Hearts Divided Over Charles Taylor

ACCRA Hearts of Oak's talismanic player, Charles Asampong Taylor is in the news again after his future with the club has become uncertain. Etoile du Sahel, the club that currently owns the player has demanded an amount of $200,000 for his outright purchase by the Phobians. The Tunisian club claim a couple of clubs in the Gulf region have shown interest in Taylor and so if Hearts are desirous of getting the player to don the rainbow colours, then they should cough up the amount or forget about Taylor. This new development prompted the Hearts of Oak hierarchy to meet and discuss the implications of this new development last week. But at the said meting it emerged that whilst some board members argued that Taylor is still an asset and as such everything must be done to meet the Tunisians demands, a section of the members also shared a different opinion.

They content that to pay such a hefty sum of money for a player whose career is on the wane doesn't make good business sense considering the fact that their coffers are almost empty. They again argue that Taylor is yet to return to the pitch to demonstrate that indeed he's recovered fully from his career-threatening injury that necessitated in him being flown to South Africa for surgery earlier in the year. It will be recalled that Accra Hearts of Oak with the help of Mr. Herbert Mensah arranged for Taylor and stalwart defender Kwabena Boafo to see a specialist knee surgeon in South Africa, where they were successfully operated upon. But some members think after the club has spent so much on Taylor, they don't see any reason why they should jettison him and not benefit from his services but allow another club to reap what they haven't sown.

Meanwhile the player is gradually getting back to full fitness and even though he hasn't joined the Phobians on their pre-season tour of Tarkwa in the Western Region, he engages in a light kick-about with other players in his vicinity and indications are that it won't be long before we get to see the Charles Taylor of old times.