Rio 2016 Olympic Games bronze medalist, Imoh Ezekiel, is set to lose a whooping 3 million Euros (N1.2bn) in wages in his new move to top Turkish side Konyaspor from his Qatari side, Al-Arabi.
President of Lagos based Nationwide League side, 36 Lion
Football Club, Gafar Liameed, who is also the player's minder, disclosed this while
speaking on the just completed transfer negotiations for the much sought after
player.
The experienced
football administrator opined that career progression should be paramount and
placed highly at all times in the mind of any ambitious athlete.
“I am a father to Ezekiel Imoh and several other players
and it is my role as a father to protect and give them quality advise in the
interest of their careers," Gafar quipped.
According to Hajji
Gafar as fondly called, the new deal will earn the 23 year-old attacker 3
million Euros in a three year deal, as opposed to 6 million Euros he would have
earned if he stays on with Al Arabi till 2020.
“Imoh is a top
quality player who should be playing his football week in and out in a top and
very competitive league. And when we started receiving offers from different
parts of Europe, we were careful not to be consumed by the huge sum of money
readily available to him in Qatar.
"Truly, it
wasn't an easy decision for him to make when I advised him to move on to a more
competitive league and lose as much as N1.2bn in reduced wages,” he disclosed.
Speaking further,
the Lagos FA board member, added that the decision will bear positive fruits
for the former Anderlecht of Belgium forward.
"It was,
indeed, a gut wrenching decision. However, I believe strongly in my son's
abilities to make the best of this opportunity and make positive headlines in
the top Turkish league," Hajji Gafar enthused confidently.
The Nigeria international will fly to the Metropolitan
Municipality Stadium today to officialy sign a three year contract with the Anatolian
Eagle.
Written by Akeem Busari and Babatunde Abidoye
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