Kaizer Chiefs' Akumu needs to be psyched before matches - Kwasi Appiah

Former Ghana coach Kwasi Appiah says midfielder Anthony Akumu needs to be in the right hands to develop the lacking aspects of his game at Kaizer Chiefs.

Akumu had joined the South African club in January 2020 after snubbing Belgian and Japanese clubs as well as continental heavyweights TP Mazembe.

Seven months after failing to make it into Kenya's 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) squad, Akumu found himself signing for the Premier Soccer League (PSL) giants.

When Chiefs approached him in December 2019, the 27-year-old says they were "nowhere in the picture" as he was busy weighing up other options amid interest from Europe, Asia and Africa.

The defensive midfielder says he did not have to crack his head in deciding his next destination as he picked enticing Chiefs who signed him from Zesco United.

“I was heading to training [in December 2019] and this guy calls me and tells me he is the chief scout at Chiefs and they wanted to sign me," Akumu told Nation Sport.

"I couldn’t believe it because he called me Teddy which shows that is someone who knew me really well. At that time Zesco were keen to renew my contract. We were in talks but there were also other options in Japan, Belgium, Angola [Primeiro de Agosto] and TP Mazembe.

"Chiefs were nowhere in the picture but when they came they showed more effort than the rest because they called me directly. Another top official called me later that night and confirmed they really wanted me.

"I had always dreamt of playing in the PSL but not for Kaizer Chiefs. When such a top club like Chiefs show big interest, you can't say no. I didn't think twice about it.”

Akumu's agent George Bwana says Chiefs were closely monitoring the midfielder for two years before finally landing their target.

Earlier in 2017, Bwana had sold Bobby Motaung the idea of casting their scouting net to East Africa as he sounded the Chiefs football manager about Akumu as well as his Zesco United compatriots David Owino and Jesse Were. Motaung was initially not keen on the trio.

"Luckily in 2017, Zesco had a good run in the Champions League going all the way to the semi-finals and that sparked some interest from Chiefs’ scouts who started monitoring Teddy [Akumu] and Jesse closely," said Bwana.

“Akumu wasn't a regular but when he came in you could see the difference because he helped stabilise the defence. Chiefs continued monitoring him in the Zambian league since it was live on TV.

"By then, he had already nailed a starting place and come December, Chiefs were sure Akumu was their man. It's one of the smoothest negotiations I've had in my career as an agent thanks to Zesco for being reasonable enough not to stand in the way of the player."

Now, with Akumu having made three league appearances for Chiefs as well as featuring in two Cup games, he was gradually turning himself into a regular before league action was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Akumu's former coach at Sudanese side Al Khartoum, Kwesi Appiah, however, feels the midfielder is still a rough diamond that still needs polishing.

Appiah, the ex-Ghana national team coach, says Akumu should work on perfecting his passing and needs to be in good hands to improve his tactical awareness.

“Anthony is a hard-working player and very disciplined. He tries to adapt to any tactical play and needs to be psyched and tactically briefed before a match,” Appiah told Nation Sport.

"He has good physical strength to play the defensive midfield role. He is lovely to deal with on and off the pitch and I will always love to have him in my team.

“He needs to perfect his passes and support in attack. He should be trained psychologically and practically to score goals through set-pieces. He has all the attributes to be a much better player but needs good coaching.”