How 'fight' over transfer fees made this Asante Kotoko legend reject life-changing move to France

His club, Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Lille shook hands on a 60,000-euro deal. Personal terms between him and Lille were agreed and all parties were confident that deal was sealed.

But someway somehow, something held up the deal. The hold up was not because Asante Kotoko had raised their asking price or Lille had lowered their offer but it was because of what many could describe insatiable crave for money by the player.

Having agreed a deal with Lille on his salary, he still wanted a bite of what Asante Kotoko were going to get from the deal but the club remained adamant that he deserved zero penny from the transfer deal.

In a perfect self-destruct and self-sabotage move, he decided not to fly to France to close the deal so that Kumasi Asante Kotoko will also not get their share of the package. Basically, if the club was not going to give him a part of the transfer fee, then he was going to make sure no one wins from the move.

This is the story of how one of Ghana’s most heralded footballers and Asante Kotoko cult-hero Robert Eshun botched a life-changing transfer to Lille in France.

“In the first game of the Under-21 World Cup qualifiers in Egypt, I dribbled from the centre to score in the opening minute but in around the 60th minute I got injured and was subbed off. I didn’t play again until the third-place play-off," he said.

“A lot of teams expressed interest in me after that game. Lille scout was at the tournament so he saw me and wanted to sign me for the club. The agent came for and three other players but I was injured. At the time, my passport was with Grasshoppers because they also wanted me."

“So the agent used fake passport with a big age and smuggled me through Aflao to Togo and then from Togo to France. I couldn’t train because of the injury but there were few times I joined. Whenever I joined training, I impressed with my dribbling skills so they decided to treat me. The doctor said they needed my real identity so I had to fly back to Ghana."

“The Lille President came to Ghana two after I arrived to negotiate with Asante Kotoko. After sealing the deal with Kotoko he went back. Asante Kotoko 60,000 euros and decided that they won’t give me a penny from that amount. I told Kotoko that I wouldn’t go if they don’t give me part of the money. Kotoko decided against giving me the money so I also decided to sabotage a deal,” he told Saddick Adams via Youtube channel.

Hindsight they say is 20/20 which means that reflecting on past situation gives one the perfect platform to understand the whole issue and see what might have gone wrong.

Robert Eshun now looks back with regret as he believes that the move would have set him on the path of greatness as Lille had a reputation for producing some very fine footballers.

He used his experience to counsel current footballers to seek the service of advisors when making moves relative to their careers.

“This is why I’m saying that as a footballer you need an advisor because if I had an advisor, I wouldn’t have rejected the Lille move. I was young then and France football was good for young footballers. They were ready to take me on as a young player. They had facilities and everything for both school and football but I rejected it. I should have taken that advantage but I followed money,” he said.

Robert Eshun played in Ghana for Asante Kotoko as well as other clubs in Belgium and Malaysia.

KPE