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Ghanaian starlet Ema Boateng has claimed that he rebuffed potential interest in Capital One Cup finalists Sunderland and Manchester City to push through a summer move to Helsingborgs IF.
The 20-year-old winger says he had invitations from the Premier League duo to join them on trail with the possibility of earning a contract, but he never gave them the chance once the Swedish club made more concrete overtures in his direction. He told the Evening Post:
All trips were booked but everything felt perfect in Helsingborg. I got to sample training and was offered a contract so I stayed and signed.
I did not know whether City and Sunderland would offer a contract and the transfer window was about to close so I did not dare take the chance.
Call me a bit of a skeptic if you want, but I'm not sure I buy it. It looks very much like a PR offensive in a 'look how much I want to be here' kind of message.
It's pretty clear that the difficulties in getting a work permit in England would have made a serious pursuit of him a pretty pointless one for a Premier League club who were looking to develop him as a prospect. His age doesn't exactly cream 'project' at you either.
Looks like there may be a little name-dropping going on to me.
