Frimpong Manso happy with Kotoko transfer ban

Former Asante Kotoko star Frimpong Manso is delighted by the club's new policy to purely depend on their current side and youth system for first-team talent.

After constituting a new board in May, club life patron Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has ordered the Kumasi-based outfit to stay off the transfer market for the next year as part of measures to enforce a new direction for the side.

Arguably Ghana's biggest club and believed to be the nation's richest outfit, Kotoko are known for their unrivalled financial clout in the transfer market on the local scene.

“I am really excited about the directives from Manhyia [Palace] to the Board to develop Youth side for Asante Kotoko. It is surely the start of an exciting moment for the club," Manso, also a former coach of Kotoko, told Opemsuo FM.

“In developing the young players, it demands experienced hands that really have the pre-requisite skills about youth development.

"And I would want to plead with the Board to consider the old players of the club who are coaches, and understand the cultural perspectives of the club.

“This is a project that needs support from all and sundry to see it happening soon. It is a difficult project but when it fully matures, its results are nothing short of the best."

Manhyia Palace chief of staff Manhyia Palace Kofi Badu confirmed this development after the club's board meeting last month.

The Manhyia Palace is the seat of Otumfuo.

"Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has directed that the club should not recruit any new player for at least a season," Badu said as was announced by the club.

"The reason is to temporarily stop the player attrition rate and enable us to work with the current crop of players, who the Asantehene thinks have the quality to push the club to the top."

With 23 titles, Kotoko are the most successful club in the history of the Ghana Premier League (GPL).

In May, the club was almost handed a transfer ban by Fifa over the transfer Ghana forward Emmanuel Clottey from Tunisian side Esperance in 2015.

The transfer breach resulted in a $240,000 [€218,915] loss for the club.