Boakye: Beitar Jerusalem snap up former Juventus striker

Israeli top-flight club Beitar Jerusalem have announced the signing of Ghana international Richmond Boakye-Yiadom.

The striker joins The Lions from the Capital on a one-year contract, with an option to extend for a further one year.

Last season, he was on the books of Polish outfit Gornik Zabrze for the second half of the campaign where his short-term contract expired.

"Beitar Jerusalem is pleased to announce the signing of the offensive striker Richmond Boachi (28, 1.86 cm), who signed with the team for one season with an option for another season," Beitar have announced on their official website.

"The striker, who has made 14 appearances for the [Ghana] senior team, holds an impressive resume, and has gone through very significant nodes during his career.

"He has previously played in Italy (bought by Juventus, played in Sassuolo, Genoa, Latina and Atalanta), Spain (Elche), the Netherlands (Roda JC), Serbia (Red Star Belgrade) China (Jiangsu Suning) and Poland (Gornik Zabrze), with a total transfer fee crossing the 16 million euro mark.

"The player, who is currently in Ghana, is expected to join the club in Israel and will be part of our Yellow and Black Army, which will begin its journey as early as next Saturday in the Toto Cup game against Hapoel Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium."

At the Polish outfit, he made 13 league appearances, failing to find the back of the net in any of the matches.

In the first half of the term, he made eight league appearances for Red Star Belgrade, scoring twice.

Boakye will be hoping to make the most of his time with Beitar to impress Ghana coach CK Akonnor for a return to national duty.

His name was last found on a Ghana squad list in March last year when a selection was announced for a double-header against Sudan, a set of fixtures which were later postponed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease at the time.

The Black Stars' next squad is expected to be unveiled ahead of their 2022 World Cup qualifying fixtures against Ethiopia and South Africa in September.