Kwesi Nyantakyi started Inaki Williams chase - Player's uncle
9th July 2022
President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi gestures as he gives an interview at the Rei Pele stadium in Maceio, Ghana's base training camp, on June 23, 2014. Nyantakyi says they will sue Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper over its claim he agreed for the national team to play in two proposed matches which he would "fix" after the World Cup. The allegations came after a joint undercover investigation by the Daily Telegraph and Channel 4 programme Dispatches. The investigation identified two people, one a FIFA licensed agent and the other a Ghana football association club official. The Ghana national football team will face Portugal in Brasilia on June 26, 2014 in their last first round group match of the 2014 FIFA World cup. AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA (Photo credit should read CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, Athletic Bilbao striker Inaki Williams announced that his nationality switch to Ghana has been completed and is ready to play for the Black Stars of Ghana despite turning down overtures from the Ghana Football Association (GFA) in the past.
But it appears the road to the switch did not start now, as the player's uncle Richard Ankomah has revealed that erstwhile GFA President, Kwesi Nyantakyi started the process during his tenure but the player asked for time to reflect.
Speaking in an interview with Onua TV, he revealed that his nephew is very aware of the pressures that comes with playing for the Black Stars and is ready to commit to the shirt.
“Former GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi began the process of convincing Inaki to switch to play for Ghana in 2015. We paused at one point for the player to reflect,” Ahenkorah said on Accra-based Onua TV.
“Kurt Okraku [current GFA president] played a key role and has done a good job. I call him honorable, there is one thing about Kurt, he’s a goal-getter.
“Inaki is very good on the wings, very pacy and potent up front as well. I believe his addition to the Black Stars will be very helpful. He’s very disciplined, though he lives in Spain, his core values are of Ghanaian origin,”
“Inaki is a very focused guy. So his decision to switch to play for Ghana is not a half-baked one. He’s coming to give his all.”
According to him, Inaki is already psyched and aware of the difficulty that comes with playing for the Black Stars.
“Already I told Inaki that in Ghana we have 30 million coaches and must be ready to stand by his decision. I know he is used to the pressure in football,” he said.
The striker was born in the Basque region of Spain to Ghanaian mother and a Liberian father who sought asylum in Spain some years back.
Ghana had made attempts to convince the striker to commit his future to them but it failed as he said at the time that he prefers to play for the land of his birth Spain.
He made his debut for Spain in 2016 in a friendly match against Bosnia Herzegovina which still made him eligible to play for the Black Stars of Ghana.
But since then he had been overlooked by subsequent Spain managers but with time running out for the Bilbao striker he has now taken solace in playing for Ghana especially at the World Cup in Qatar.
Inaki is one of two footballing brothers born to Ghanaian immigrants, the other being 19-year-old Nico Williams, who also plays for Athletic and made his professional debut this year.
He will be available for selection in September when Ghana face Angola in the afcon 2023 qualifiers.
The Black Stars will play their first group match at the 2022 World Cup against Portugal on November 24th, 2022 before taking on Korea on November 28th and finally facing Uruguay on December 2.