Laryea Kingson claims he fled Gaza bombs

Laryea Kingston has spiked rumours he could be re-joining Accra Hearts of Oak and claims he left Israel because it was becoming unsafe to play there.

The former Hearts striker is back in Ghana as he works out the next destination in a career that has taken him to Russia, Libya, Scotland, Holland and Israel already.

But he has sparked reports of an imminent move to Hearts of Oak in Accra including in the club's own official mouthpiece by claiming he would be heading back to Europe.

Kingson says his first option would be a return to Scottish football where he played for Hearts, he claims to only have offers from elsewhere at the moment.

"I’ve spoken to a couple of clubs since I came home. People realise I am a free player now and these days every club wants a free player. I’ve had two or three teams talking to me so I’m waiting for the transfer window to open and then I will see where I’m to play," he is quoted as saying in the Edinburgh Evening News.

“I would definitely like to come back to Scotland. If I had the chance to play in Scotland again, I would be so happy. But, at the moment, there is no interest from Scotland. I have offers from Turkey, Greece and Cyprus. There is also a club in Dubai interested."

Kingson was on the books of Israeli club Hapoel Be’er Sheva on July this year but says he decided to return home for security reasons.

“I signed a two-year deal but it was just not safe there (in Israel). We had bombs and rockets and everything going off because it’s close to the Gaza strip.

“It was very dangerous for me and my family so I told them to cancel the contract and I came back to Accra.

“Every few days there were rockets from Gaza landing in the city I was staying in. It was so dangerous for me and my family so I decided to move. I came back to Ghana two weeks ago and I’m waiting to move to Europe again. That’s where I want to play.

“Compared to all the places I played in, like Russia and Scotland, the Israeli league is of a different standard. The other leagues are far ahead of the Israeli league. Right from the beginning I wasn’t too happy but what could I do? I had a contract for two years so I tried to be professional. But compared to Russia and Scotland, the level of football was not the same.

“My performances weren’t a problem. I played all the time and I got man-of-the-match in almost every game. If you aren’t happy where you are, though, it is better that you move on.

“I wasn’t happy and my family weren’t happy – every week there was some kind of alarm or a missile or something. I found it really difficult. I moved my wife and my children back to Ghana immediately when it all started. I stayed alone for three months and that was hard. I was frightened about my own safety and I just wasn’t comfortable. And it wasn’t just me. We had a Portuguese right-back (Luis Torres) and a Polish goalkeeper (Marcin Cabaj) who also left because of all these problems.

“Even training was difficult. We had to leave the city to go to Tel Aviv to train because it wasn’t safe. The whole place was not stable, it is dangerous for everybody. The local players are used to all these problems so they are fine, but the foreigners find it difficult to stay. Almost all the foreigners who joined Hapoel this season have left.

“At first they didn’t want me to go. But later they agreed it was the best thing for me to leave. They realised that I wasn’t happy or comfortable there so it was best to let me go.”