Former Ghana and Hearts of Oak defender Sam Johnson says the Black Stars team still needs the services of Southampton star Mohammed Salisu going into the 2022 World Cup to be staged in Qatar.
Sam Johnson wants the leadership of the Ghana Football Association to do anything possible to convince the talented left-footed central defender to play for the Black Stars.
Salisu, 22, has rejected several invitations to represent Ghana at the international level, claiming that he isn’t ready yet.
The former Real Valladolid star has been chased by the Ghana Football Association since 2019 to honour an invite. He has been invited by former coaches Kwasi Appiah, Charles Kwablah Akonnor, Milovan Rajevac and Otto Addo.
His consistent rejection of the Black Stars has left many Ghanaian football fans furious, as they have labelled him as unpatriotic.
Other fans are calling on the FA to stop chasing him to play for the Black Stars.
However, Sam Johnson thinks otherwise, insisting the centre-back will be needed for the World Cup and the GFA must try and convince him to play for Ghana.
“We still need players in the team. Those who are playing better than those we currently have now in the team. Salisu is a Ghanaian and because of some reason, he doesn’t want to come. Let’s get some people to talk to him and convince him. Sometimes it is because of the way we handle them. So we have to be careful”, he told Happy FM.
The former Hearts of Oak defender believes Salisu Mohammed’s quality will be key for Ghana’s squad going into the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
“It doesn’t matter if he didn’t play in the qualifiers. It doesn’t work like that in the national team because some players laboured in the qualifiers so they should play in the World Cup. The GFA must go and talk to him”.
