Top German club join Alex Asamoah chase

Top German Bundesliga side Nurnberg have upped their bid to sign Kumasi Asante Kotoko striker Alex Asamoah. The 23 year old hitman netted 16 times for Kotoko in the 2008/09 Glo Ghana Premier League to earn the topscorer’s award to raise his goal scoring profile a notch higher. Many top European clubs have been on the trail of Asamoah all summer and the Germans are the latest to show interest in snatching the Ghanaian goal-scoring prodigy.

The 23 year old is currently in another European club, Turkey, and on the verge of sealing a professional contract with KSK. But hardly had Alex Asamoah landed in Istanbul when his agent received a call from Nurnberg officials enquiring on the availability of Ghana’s goalking. The Germans are apparently waiting on the fringes to spy on the details of the contract to be offered Asamoah by KSK before countering with a bigger package to lure the Ghanaian away from Turkey. Nurnberg which have just won promotion back to the German top flight after just one season of relegation to the second division in that country have vowed to sign Alex Asamoah. Former Asante Kotoko and Ghana striker Isaac Boakye was key in helping Nurnberg gain promotion and he still plays for them.

Last Saturday, Boakye started Nurnberg’s first game back in Bundesliga and played for 68 minutes before being replaced by Greece’s EURO 2004 winning goalscorer Angelos Charisteas. Nurnberg though lost the game played on their home grounds 2-1 to Schalke 04 and the club’s authorities are keen on snatching up Alex Asamoah to strengthen their strike force in the bid to retain their Bundesliga status come the end of 2009/10.

Many Kotoko insiders have indicated that officials and supporters of the club will welcome the switch to Germany where Asamoah is promised top flight football. It is the huge belief in Kumasi and indeed across Ghana that the Bundesliga will offer the striker better exposure, progress and growth. The Germans are also keen to up the money to be offered Kotoko by KSK as well as putting a higher wage package on the table for the player.

Alex Asamoah meanwhile is currently training with KSK where, according to his agent, he has received a very warm reception from players, officials and fans of the club. Alex Asamoah has apparently also expressed his surprise at discovering how big a club KSK were, and though he continues to enjoy his stay with them, could yet end up switching Turkey for Germany before finally signing for any club in Europe.