Fatawu Issahaku: Why the Ghana whiz should choose Leicester over AFCON

COMMENT: It is the dream of every player to feature for their respective national team. If you give any player the option of winning a trophy with their club side or national team, the answer will most likely be the latter.

There is an immeasurable amount of pride attached to national team success that makes it the Holy Grail for footballers. Fatawu Issahaku (19) will probably be the first player to admit this looking at how passionate he is about representing Ghana.

This passion has been built over the years through his days with Ghana's U-17, U-20 and U-23 sides. With the U-20 team, Issahaku was instrumental in leading Ghana to continental success, as Black Satellites won the 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, whilst picking up the Player of the Tournament award.

However, Issahaku will also be the first to admit that underperformance with the national team comes with a deep form of disappointment. This is why there needs to be a middle ground and with just over a month to go to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the player will need some introspection to either opt for short-term satisfaction or something more lasting.

The past two years have been rough for the teenager and I argue why he should consider letting this AFCON slide in favour of his personal development.

A damaged reputation undergoing reconstruction

If you looked at the commentary surrounding Fatawu Issahaku last year, you would have struggled to believe it was the same player who was being chased by Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen when he was just 17.

Although he had been through the youth ranks, his inclusion in the Ghanaian national team came across as fast-tracked. Right after his exploits with the U-20 team, he received his first senior call-up by CK