Former Juventus Striker Opens Up on How He Nearly Chose Italy Over Ghana

• Richmond Boakye Yiadom could have followed the path of Mario Balotelli if he had carried on with his earlier plan of representing the Azurris of Italy
• In what has been a nomadic career, Yiadom has played for over ten clubs across Italy, Spain, Netherlands and China
• Since making his debut for the Black Stars, Boakye-Yiadom has played a total of 19 matches for Ghana, scoring on seven occasions

Ghana international Richmond Boakye Yiadom has detailed how he almost represented Italy during the height of his powers as a fledgling talent.

The 29-year-old moved to Europe at a tender age playing for a myriad of clubs, including Serie A giants Juventus.

But it was at Sassuolo, in the Serie B, that Boakye Yiadom's goal-scoring prowess will come to the fore banging in 21 goals in 66 games.

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And according to the forward, he considered switching allegiance to Italy despite being born in Ghana.

“I played one of the big derby games in the Italian Serie B, that was between Sassuolo and Modena. Some big men like Jordan Anagbla came to watch me and asked me if I would love to play for Ghana," he told Radio Gold as quoted by Football Ghana.

“By then I was a hot cake in the Italian football and I wanted to play for Italy because I didn’t want any problem,” Richmond Boakye Yiadom shared.

The Beitar Jerusalem striker added, “But if I look at how Asamoah Gyan and Michael Essien related to each other in camp, it made my interest in the Black Stars grow.

Yiadom will earn his first national team call-up with Ghana's male U20 team, where he will go on to help Ghana secure a bronze medal at the 2013 edition of the FIFA U20 World Cup.

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“So when I was invited for the U-20 in 2013, we didn’t disappoint and we won bronze at FIFA World Cup in Turkey.

“So I was given the opportunity at the senior national team after my exploits with the U-20.”

Ghana striker Richmond Boakye Yiadom on target for Beitar Jerusalem

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Ghana international Richmond Boakye Yiadom mustered a goal for Beitar Jerusalem in their humbling defeat to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli elite division.

A dull first half was replaced by a four-goal blitz in the second stanza of the match as the home side recorded a fourth win in five games to keep tabs with league leaders Maccabi Haifa.

Yiadom came in as a second-half substitute for Beitar Jerusalem, replacing Suriname forward Gleofilo Vlijter after 57 minutes.