“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what WAFA can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around WAFA they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Samuel Waris and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Francis Baba falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at WAFA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at WAFA will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Osman Asamoah has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at WAFA has been clear about where Kwadwo Atiemo stands, which is more than many ever get.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what WAFA can pretend not to have heard.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Andre Atiemo reports back to WAFA with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Bonga Mkhize was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at WAFA will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Kwame Nuhu
MarketThe clock does Bonga Mkhize’s negotiating for him
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what WAFA can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at WAFA is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Samuel Waris was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Add another name to the list: BA All Stars have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Andre Atiemo. The answer from WAFA has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francis Baba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bonga Mkhize is on it.
In brief
The dugoutBonga Mkhize knocks on the manager’s door
The name of Harrison Asante has come up in conversations WAFA were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
$770.0K on the table at Hasaacas. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The offer from BA All Stars for Andre Atiemo was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Everything agreed with Asante Kotoko, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at WAFA will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emmanuel Kudus trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at WAFA, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. WAFA have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Asante Kotoko have kept their man, and WAFA go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andre Wakaso is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. WAFA lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. WAFA have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what WAFA can pretend not to have heard.
Edmund Boateng was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Liberty Professionals have kept their man, and WAFA go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Andre Wakaso falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. WAFA lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at WAFA, and it is not being withdrawn.
WAFA have gone to Hasaacas with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
WAFA asked and Medeama said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andre Wakaso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Andre Atiemo again, and this time the name on the line is BA All Stars. WAFA are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andre Wakaso is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at WAFA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The offer from Berekum Chelsea for Harrison Asante was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Kwadwo Atiemo had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
$600.0K on the table at Hasaacas. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Edmund Boateng and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The phone has started ringing about Andre Atiemo again, and this time the name on the line is BA All Stars. WAFA are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francis Baba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bonga Mkhize is on it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andre Wakaso is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at WAFA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Heart of Lions will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. WAFA were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 8.44 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” WAFA have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andre Wakaso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Andre Atiemo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Two goals and a mark of 8.29 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. WAFA had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
WAFA asked and Hearts of Oak said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Andre Wakaso falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.