Ghana Premier League side Accra Hearts of Oak have reportedly given up any hopes of tying down their prized asset Daniel Afriyie Barnieh to a new contract.

There has been a contract stand-off between the player and the club with his contract set to expire at the end of the month.

Hearts have opened contract talks with the talented forward for months now but no compromise has been reached between the pair.

Barnieh was part of the Black Stars squad that played at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar although he did not play a single minute but featured in Ghana's last preparatory game against Switzerland where he shone.

Hearts have tabled  a new proposal before the player but he and his representatives have rejected it with a move away on the cards.

The club has been in talks with the player about extending his contract with them for a while but no agreement has been reached with reports claiming that that the player has now decided against renewing his contract with Hearts.

According to Graphic Sports sources, Hearts of Oak have finally given up on its intention to lure the 21-year-old striker to renew his contract, hence he was free to leave if he so wished.

The source said Hearts could no longer countenance the ingrate character of the player and that if that was how he wished to pay back a club that brought him to prominence, he was at liberty to leave.

“He (Barnieh) has still not signed a new contract and I had a discussion with the board chairman that if he doesn’t sign, nobody should call him; he should be allowed to go but his conscience would be his own judge.

“If you can treat a club that brought you to prominence that way, then he can go because we made all the efforts we could for over three months, explaining to him the need to sign but he kept on dilly-dallying with us with his so-called manager, so if he wants to go he can go,” it said.

The source intimated that because the player did not want to play for the club, that was why he was dragging his feet in signing a new contract. Due to that, they had excluded him from the list of players the club submitted to the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

“He wouldn’t like to sign and the only reason he wouldn’t like to sign is that he doesn’t want to play for the club, but one thing I’m sure about is that his name is not on the list of players we submitted to the FA,” it further revealed.

Barnieh’s contract is due to expire at the end of this month and the player has refused to pen his signature to a new deal as reports indicate that several foreign clubs are pursuing him.

His decision not to extend Hearts of Oak's stay could result his exclusion of the Black Galaxies' team for the 2023 CHAN tournament following the regulations of the competition which states that a player must be affiliated with clubs based in their native country.