Saints continue their strategy of building partnerships across the globe, to not only nurture a supply of potential stars of the future that could make the grade in the Premier League, but also to build the club's profile in World football.
I won' t profess to know much about African football, but it has to be good for Saints long term to build up overseas partnerships that could yield the odd player who could make it in the Premier League, but also boost Saints standing across the World, something that could drive income with Premier League football being big business on most of the Continents of the World these days.
Asante Kotoko SC are from Ghana and Saints already have a Ghanian on the books in the form of Mohammed Salisu, although it does not appear that Salisu has had any previous connection to Asante Kotoko SC.
The full details of the partnership were revealed in the following press release:
Southampton Football Club is delighted to welcome Asante Kotoko SC, one of the leading professional clubs in Africa, to its growing portfolio of International Club Partners.
Over the course of the partnership, Southampton will support the development of Ghanaian Premier League Asante Kotoko’s strategy both on and off the pitch.
Southampton will share their industry-leading coaching expertise to help Asante Kotoko realise their ambition of building a sustainable Academy and pathway to the first team, with year-round remote support supplemented by regular visits to Ghana throughout the partnership from the club’s International Football Partnership team.
The partnership will include Academy staff exchange visits between the UK and Ghana, as well as opportunities for Asante Kotoko’s young players to attend annual UK Player Development camps and experience the Southampton Academy methodology first-hand, when travel corridors open up and it is safe to travel.
Southampton will also support the development of Asante Kotoko’s commercial and operational strategy through collaborating on key projects.
Based in Kumasi, Ashanti Region in Ghana West Africa, Asante Kotoko have been champions of the Premier League a record 23 times, have won the CAF Champions League twice and were named the African club of the century by International Football Federation of History and Statistics (IFFHS).
Asante Kotoko’s CEO, Nana Yaw Amponsah commented:
"This partnership enables us to plug Asante Kotoko into Southampton in such a way that Kotoko functions like Southampton. Kotoko would have everything Southampton has but to a level that reflects our different budgets. I believe that with the expertise and resources available at Southampton, we can tap into this and develop our setup to look and feel professional like Saints.”
Mark Abrahams, Director of Business and Community Development commented:
"During these challenging times we’re delighted to have agreed a long-term partnership to work with Asante Kotoko. Nana Yaw has a clear vision for Asante Kotoko to be a self-sustainable football club both on and off the pitch. We look forward to working with him and his team to support their development.”
Asante Kotoko SC becomes Southampton’s first professional club partnership in Africa adding to a range of partners across North America, the Middle East, Australia and Japan.