Mohammed Polo narrates how he helped Abedi Pele to get a deal abroad

Legendary Ghanaian footballer Mohammed Ahmed Polo has disclosed how he helped Abedi "Pele" Ayew to grab a professional contract.

Abed Pele in an interview recently eulogized Mohammed Polo for his impact on his career, saying he looked up to the former Accra Hearts of Oak S.C and Ghana midfielder while playing his football career.

Polo has revealed in an exclusive interview with Pulse Ghana’s Thomas Freeman Yeboah that aside from mentoring Abedi Pele, he helped him out to secure a contract.

“I went to Dubai and came back. What I went through I didn't want this youngster to go through the same thing. I made it clear to him. I bought a car and I was picking him, he was going to the academicals camp at Madina, so I picked him at the stadium,” he told Pulse.com.gh.

“I advised him; my friend don’t waste your time. We have suffered here (Ghana), so don’t suffer like me. You know lo and behold he had an opportunity at an early age.

“At a point in time, I even became his coach we were doing this professional. Professionals who were playing outside, we organized ourselves and I was the coach.

“We were going to Benin and I invited him that my friend come and go with us (Abedi Pele was then with RTU). You are a player that needs to be given this sort of (opportunity), so I took him.

“I remember he had his first contract over there (Benin), before he came and went to Qatar and afterward to Noirt in France.

“When he went there (France), he even came back, so I called him master come, as for you, you are a gem you will play”.

Abedi Pele in 1984 played for AS Dragons FC de l'Ouémé in Benin. Before then he has had stints with Al Sadd of Qatar and Zurich of Switzerland, but he returned to RTU in 1985.

Abedi Pele had a sensational career in Europe, winning the UEFA Champions League in 1993 with Olympique Marseille and he also excelled with the Black Stars- he was a member of the Ghana team that won the 1982 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Libya and also captained the West African powerhouse as they reached the final of the 1992 AFCON.

Abedi Pele was the first player to have won the African Footballer of the Year on three consecutive occasions.