Italian born striker Emmanuel Gyasi says he is open to playing national team football for four-time African champions the Black Stars of Ghana.
Gyasi holds an Italian passport though he is born to Ghanaian parents and grew up in the Italian city of Palermo.
Gyasi who plays for Italian club side Spezia Calcio said that Black Stars legends Stephen Appiah (former Ghanaian midfielder) and Asamoah Gyan (Ghana’s all-time leading goalscorer) are his football mentors.
“My dream is to play for the senior national team [Black Stars]. I believe hard work and determination can get me into the Black Stars,” Gyasi said.
“I have two mentors, Stephen Appiah and Asamoah Gyan.”
The striker scored nine goals in the Serie B, making 37 appearances last season. He also revealed that he has received different offers from clubs. Though he is happy at Spezia, he is open to leaving depending on the offers the club have on the table.
“I’m glad I was able to play a key role in Spezia’s qualification into Serie A after just two years at the club,” Gyasi continued. “This is historic, because Spezia have not played in the Serie A before.”
“I’m very happy at Spezia because they take very good care of the players and I feel very comfortable,” he stated. “I have received a lot of offers, however, I want to sit with the technical directors of Spezia and listen to what they have for me before I decide the way forward.”
The striker helped Spezia secure Serie A promotion for the first time in their history after defeating Frosinone in the promotion play-off final scoring the only goal in the first leg victory at the Stadio Alberto Picco.
The two-legged tie ended 1-1 on aggregate, with both sides getting away wins. Spezia qualified by virtue of their better placing on the table of the regular season compared to Frosinone’s eight place finish (seven points separating them).
Gyasi, started his career at the Torino academy and has never played for Italy at youth or senior level.
