A Canada based football scout, Agba Akya, has expressed readiness to partner with Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) clubs, in helping to transfer some of their best talents to clubs abroad.
The former Lobi Stars, IBB Homers, and Trade Bombers player who serves as Chief Scout under Atta Aneke’s Players Management Group in Norway said most football clubs in Nigeria are funded by the state governments, so profit making is not a priority to them.
Akya maintained that such behaviour has become the bane of the Nigerian league because what is allocated to the clubs is usually not enough to cater for the welfare of the players and other logistics.
He, therefore, said clubs must be ready to diversify in order to generate enough revenue to recruit even foreign players as was the case in the early days of professional football in Nigeria.
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“Most times, people feel the NPFL is short on talented players but it is not true. The problem is that almost all the clubs in the league are not run professionally. They depend on the governments for funding so the administrators don’t pay much attention to the business part of football.
“But some of us are willing to help the clubs to change this retrogressive behaviour. They have to start investing in quality players who can be transferred to clubs in Europe and other continents for big money. If they are ready to learn, we can open their eyes to business opportunities out there.
‘By the special grace of God, I scouted for my agency players like Faris Mounmbagna who plays for Olympique Marseille in French Ligue 1, Datro Fofana of Chelsea who is on loan at Burnley, Keita Abubarka of FC Copenhagen, Moryke Fofana and a host of others.
“Back home, I facilitated the transfer of Nigerian players like Anthony Msonter Shimaga, Anthony Agbanyi, Vitalis Moave and many others to foreign clubs.
“So, with my international experience as a scout, I am ready to partner any NPFL club that will engage me as technical director,” said Akya, who played professional football in Cote d’ Ivoire.
