Mahatma won't join Kotoko, says Hearts board

A board member of Accra Hearts of Oak, Frank Nelson Nwokolo, has indicated that leading marksman of the club Mahatma Otoo will not play for any other local club apart from the Phobians.

In-demand Otoo’s deal with the 2000 Africa champions will be expiring at the end of the season. It emerged a couple of weeks ago that Hearts of Oak’s arch-rivals Asante Kotoko have officially written to the Phobians asking about the availability of the current leading scorer of the Ghana Premier League.

However, Nelson said Otoo, will never leave Hearts to join another local team in Ghana.

“Mahatma Otoo is a true Phobia boy so we are not shaky, we are not moved that any club in Ghana can pull him away from Hearts. I can guarantee you that he will not play for any local team in Ghana and he is a player of Hearts of Oak,” he told GBC Sports.

Nelson is, however, of the view that should a deal come from outside Ghana, Otoo will be free to move and stated that he has no problem with teams showing interest in him.

He added: “Otoo will only leave Hearts of Oak for a team outside Ghana. I appreciate clubs are trying to make their intentions known and that is part of the game and we don't have any objection to that.”

Otoo is arguably having his best season in the local league and he is leading the scorer’s chart with 16 goals. He has been on the radar of English top-flight side Sunderland, Portuguese side Benfica, French Ligue 1 giants Olympic Lyon and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns.