EXCLUSIVE Mohammed Salisu For Mozzart Sport Kenya: Why I am lukewarm about representing Ghana

Every budding footballer dreams of representing their country on the international stage as early as possible in their career but Ghanaian Mohammed Salisu has gone against the grain by choosing to focus on his club career at the dawn of his career.

Salisu who plies his trade with English Premier League’s hotbed of talent, Southampton originates from a footballing giant that has been put on the world map by their formidable performances in continental tournaments.

Ghana has produced Chelsea cult hero Michael Essien, Asamaoh Gyan who will be remembered for that penalty miss against Uruguay in the 2010 World Cup, Abedi Pele who won the UEFA Champions League with Marseille whose sons Andre and Jordan Ayew have also taken football by a storm.

In an exclusive interview with Mozzart Sport, Salisu who turns 22 in April revealed that his full attention is focused on club football at the moment but will not pass the chance of playing for the Black Stars in the future.

“I will be so proud to play for the Ghana National Team but I think this is not the right moment because I'm still young and I think I need to focus on the club side first then when everything is right I can go and play for Ghana,” explained the timid Salisu.

The Accra-born center-back joined Southampton back in August 2020 from Spanish outfit Real Valladolid having made only 31 senior appearances and made the £10.9 million that The Saints splashed on him look like a complete bargain with his impressive performance in the 1-1 draw against Chelsea in February.

Salisu is yet to earn an international cup for Ghana who are on course for qualification to the 2021 African Cup of Nations sitting joint top of Group C alongside South Africa.

Having started out at West African Football Academy and African Talent Football Academy two of the best academies in Ghana, Salisu noted that limited resources are a glass ceiling to the development of players in Africa.

“There is a lot of talent in Africa but we have small facilities and equipment, a lot of African players in Europe improve a lot because here they have everything in terms of equipment and facilities,” he said.

Life in the Premier League has not been a bed of roses for Salisu who has had to wait for six months since making the move from LaLiga to make his debut and kept a clean sheet in the FA Cup 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers back in February.

The tenacious center-back laid bare the difference between the English Premier League and LaLiga adding that he has had to put in an extra shift in training in order to match the fitness levels of his teammates.

“I train harder than before, here (England) I train harder than in Spain because here it is more physical and you have to train extra because everyone is fast and there are good players in the Premier League so you have to train extra.”

“They (English Premier League and LaLiga) are both different leagues and have different styles of play but both are good leagues and among the best leagues in the world,” he added.

Salisu will be hoping to make a rare start when Southampton come up against Manchester City on Thursday 10 March and expects a stern test with the runaway log leaders losing to arch-rivals Manchester United last weekend.

By: NEVEN CVIJANOVIĆ, Sport Klub TV reporter