Stop hyping players we want to buy - Hearts CEO tells supporters

Chief Executive Officer of Hearts of Oak, Mr Fredrick Nana Kweku Moore, has appealed to the club’s faithful to stop the ‘noise’ around players they wish to see at the club.

“This is because such acts only end up in inflating the price of the players should the club decide to go for him,” he explained.

The Phobians are looking to augment their side ahead of the resumption of the Ghana Premier League (GPL) with at least three more signings, having sealed a deal with Nigerien international Abdourahamane Mamane Lawali.

However, some fans are losing patience with the club’s hierarchy as they believe they are not proactive, allowing players earmarked for signing, ending up in rival camps.

Reacting to the concerns of the fans, Mr Moore stated that like the fans, the board and management of the club want the best for the club, adding that “sometimes silence is the masterful approach to achieving the best results.”

“I can say that even before the season opened, there were players that we were talking to. We did not wait for the opening of the transfer window before doing that. There is a lot of work going on but one thing we need to do as a is not to say everything outside.”

He frowned on the situation where fans take to the media to create what he called ‘noise’ about particular players – an action he believed only ended up in inflating the price of those players and the club ends up over paying for these players.

“I want to plead with the supporters that if they really have the club at heart and believe a player is that good for the club, there are channels that they can use to get to the board or management to follow up on.”

According to him, at Hearts, there is a well thought-out procedure and approach as to how players are recruited.

He said there was a football philosophy the club was creating and wants to adhere to for the next five to 10 years.

“So, the process of recruiting the players is not like 20 years ago where the chairman or chief executive was the main person who just goes ahead and recruits players for the club.

“Now, what we do is that the technical head brings a list of players he wishes to have to the Managing Director and he does a report to the board. The board then asks questions and probes the list, and if the assessment is right, then they give approval to the Managing Director to go and negotiate and get the player.”

He noted that if these processes are not completed, he as the Managing Director cannot go about holding discussions with whichever player a supporter brings along to be signed.

Reports of Hearts signing Nigerian striker Danjuma Ademola Kuti emerged last week.

However, Mr Moore was tight-lipped on the signings, stating that at the right time, the club would officially make an announcement to that effect.