By Rahman Osman
Follow on twitter @iamrahmanosman
At age 26 Samuel Inkoom has over 48 caps for the Black Stars, a remarkable feet which belittles his age.
A player who was once touted as the next Dani Alves, Inkoom has seen his career blossom and dwindle within his short footballing career but according to him, it hasn’t ended yet, it is just the beginning of greater things to happen.
From Basle to Dnipro and the luxury of being one of the first names in his national team, Inkoom has fallen down the pecking order with many viewing him as a social media savvy rather than that talented footballer that delighted many with his blistering pace and ability to pick a pass.
“A lot of things have been said about me that are not accurate. I have never told anyone this but I will tell you, I do not even control my Twitter or Facebook account,” Inkoom said.
“Every top footballer has these stuff it is the only way our fans truly get to us. More so I think that it’s easier to find faults in people when things are not moving on well.”
After two truly remarkable seasons in Switzerland with Basel where his talent came to the fore, Inkoom surprisingly took up a new adventure with former Real Madrid and Seville boss Juande Ramos who had moved to Dnipro. For many this was the beginning of the downward curve for the 26 year old.
“I never wanted to leave Basel. When I heard there was an offer for me I requested for a meeting with president and the coach of Basel and made it clear I had only one home and that was in Switzerland, more so my wife had just delivered my daughter.”
“But the president told me they needed the money and had already accepted the offer.”
“Ramos assured me of playing time and sold a project of which I was totally convinced of.”
The former Hasaacas and Asante Kotoko man was a regular in his first year in Ukraine but On 30 October 2011 in a league game against FC Karpaty Lviv whilst playing for Dnipro, Inkoom received a yellow card for taking his shirt off while leaving the pitch to be substituted by Yevhen Shakhov.
This was Inkoom’s second yellow card of the game and he received a red card and Shakhov could not come on. Most people refer to this event as the beginning of the end to the Inkoom, Juande Ramos love relationship.
“I remember that day but that was not the problem, the problem came when I wanted to come and play for the Black Meteors in their Olympics qualifiers and Ramos did not want me to. I begged him since I was the skipper of the side.
“I even agreed to scupper my pay for the duration and he agreed but after that game I realized we had lost something. He bought four players in my position to give me competition and from there it never really happened again.”
There were loan spells with Bastia and Greek side Platanias for the desperate Inkoom who was keen to revive the once blistering form and get his career back on track.
But after the world cup in Brazil which I must admit he was lucky to have made, Inkoom moved to the MLS with DC United a move viewed by many as a step down especially considering his age and promise he had shown when he moved to Europe.
“The U.S gave me a different challenge and I repeat I signed only for DC United but some people reported that I signed for Dynamo which were all inaccurate. I never signed for Dynamo, After the MLS season Dynamo was communicating with me but once we could not agree a deal I left there.
“People are always quick to write stuff about me without finding out. I never absconded without paying my bills in the U.S and if someone says the issue is in court, I think it’s in court that’s where we have to solve the issue.”