Former Newcastle United striker Demba Ba has become a football club owner just one year after announcing his retirement from playing. The ex-Magpies striker has invested into Senegalese second tier side Amitie FC.
Ba plans to relaunch the brand of the club and turn it into a hotbed of young Senegalese talent, after the club finished 12th in Ligue 2 last season. He's hoping that Amitie, based in Thies, Senegal's third biggest city, can become a talent pool for a number of European clubs.
The former Newcastle striker is hoping to use his connections in France and England to help build a relationship between his new club and some of Europe's big names to help possible talents make their way to the big time. Of course, if they plan to move to England they would have to qualify through the new Brexit rules.
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Speaking to iNews Ba said: “We are going to build a team that will be very successful this year. The idea is to develop players and bring them into the English market where football is best.
“There is some serious talent in the squad – 60% of them are younger players who are really top talents. We are particularly interested in the younger players – we have some 15-19 year olds in the squad that would make you go ‘wow’. I have some future African footballer of the year winners in there, I’m convinced of that.”
There is already an established route for young players to move from Senegalese football into France and Ba admits he's already taken advice from consultants after a disappointing finish from the club last season.
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