Inaki Williams
The earlier, the better they say as the adage, therefore, there’s no time to waste on such a talented player like Inaki Williams to make his debut for the Stars.
This young chap who plays for Spanish side Athletic Bilbao nearly made an appearance for the La Furia Roja (“The Red Fury”) at the on-going Euros in France. Fortunately for Ghanaians, Vicente del Bosque, who earlier stated that Williams could be part of his squad, didn’t see the need to include him (Williams) to his squad for the Euros.
This paves the way for the Stars to invite him to play for the country and possibly make an entrance for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon.
One might say Ghana never develops its own stars but would always go in for already established players. I oppose this opinion totally because Ghana has developed lots of talents and exposed lots of foreign-based players to the world. Just to mention but few, Ghana brought players like Kelvin-Prince Boateng, Kwesi Appiah, Quincy Owusu Abeyie and Adam Larsen Kwarasey to the limelight.
KP Boateng was nobody until the Black Stars took him to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He was playing for Portsmouth, who were in the Championship at that time. His exposure for the Stars at the World Cup gave him the opportunity to move from the lower tier side to play for Italian Giant AC Millan.
Another player the Black Stars has helped is Kwesi Appiah, who came from nowhere to play for the Stars at the 2015 AFCON in Equatorial Guinea to win the fair play award of the competition and silver as the team was placed second.
For Owusu Abayie, I believe many think he wasn’t treated fairly by the Stars but I hold a different view. I think the nation did its best to give Owusu Abayie any opportunity he needed. As the Bible said, many were called, but few were chosen, so as many players would have to be called but the best ones would have to be chosen. It was unfortunate for him not to make the final list for the 2010 FIFA World Cup but we also gave him the opportunity to play at the 2008 AFCON in Ghana.
For Kwarasey, the least said about him the better because he put our number one goalkeeper Richard Kingston on the bench at the 2012 AFCON in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and forced him to retire from international duty.
Now, the opportunity has come for Ghanaians to grab another fantastic striker who may succeed skipper Asamoah Gyan should he (Gyan) retires. We all know how we are crying for Gyan not to retire soon just because there’s no one to succeed him after his retirement.
I think Williams could be the next Gyan for the Stars because he has pace, physic, ability to hold onto the ball and score beautiful goals as well.
Williams made 37 appearances for Bilbao last season in all competitions and recorded 13goals with four assists to his credit.
This to me was an outstanding record for the 22-year-old Ghanaian Liberian-born Spanish player. Thus, since Gyan is ageing and getting to his retirement anytime soon, there is the need to convince this young player Williams to play for his fatherland Ghana.
