How Muntari saved Razak's career and the President’s Cup for Hearts

SULLEY Muntari has been praised for playing an important role in Accra Hearts of Oak victory in this year's President's Cup match, as his timely intervention in convincing the Hearts management to abandon a decision to offload teammate Patrick Razak, largely contributed to their 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Asante Kotoko in Accra on March 4.

The Daily Graphic has heard that Hearts was on the verge of offloading the winger to city rivals Accra Great Olympics but the club's management was prevailed upon by Muntari to keep the forward who came from the bench to score a late winning goal to hand Hearts their first trophy of the season and bragging rights.

According to a member of Hearts' board of directors, Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, it was Muntari's bold intervention and passionate plea on behalf of his teammate that blocked the decision to put the diminutive winger on transfer.

“But for Sulley, we would have transferred Patrick Razak. Sulley called me early in the morning and said ‘Boss I beg you, don’t let Razak go.’ When I asked why, Sulley said he [Razak] was a good footballer all he needed was exposure, encouragement and being deployed at the right position.

“By then the management had already organised his transfer, then Razak came to me in my house with two other people. They begged me and I said, 'don’t worry I will see to it that you are not transferred',” Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe said.

He revealed that Razak begged to stay with the Phobians since he was not interested in any of the clubs he had been linked to, including Olympics.

“Ironically, Razak reportedly made a u-turn and informed me that his manager had asked him to terminate his contract with Hearts,” Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe disclosed.

“Can you believe I went to watch the boy at training one afternoon but he wasn't present so I called Sulley [Muntari] just to tell him that Patrick was not going anymore because Togbe Afede had agreed that we should just sign him. We later reached Razak on phone and he told me he was no more staying but wanted to go.

“So, I called Muntari and Coach Samuel Boadu at training and I narrated the story to them, but Sulley begged me on Razak's behalf for the twists and turns. Later, I told Togbe we should keep the decision to retain him and that’s how come Razak was not transferred and he repaid our confidence reposed in him by scoring that winning goal against Kotoko," he said.