Aodhán Ó Conchobhair 
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN - JULY 18: Celtic legend Shunsuke Nakamura adidas presents CELTIC FC JAPAN TOUR 2023 Special Talk Show during the Celtic press conference and training session at Nissan Stadium on July 18, 2023 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. (Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
Kwadwo Asamoah’s new Juventus academy in Ghana should be viewed as more than just another former footballer giving back to his community. There are interesting comparisons that can be made with Celtic and their approach to community football initiatives.
It should be viewed as a lesson.
And from our perspective, it highlights an opportunity the club still hasn’t fully embraced.
While clubs across Europe continue building academy partnerships and scouting networks across Africa, Asia, Oceania, and North America, Celtic often appear content operating within the same familiar markets.
But some of the best young talent in world football is emerging from Africa.
And we should be positioning ourselves to find it.
Our Global Reach Is Being Underused
One of our biggest strengths has always been the club’s identity.
Supporters clubs exist all over the world.
The Celtic Foundation has built an outstanding reputation through its charitable work in Africa.
The club already has a global footprint.
The problem is that this footprint isn’t always being used strategically.
Imagine we were creating academy partnerships across Africa.
Not simply to scout players.
But to create opportunities.
Training camps.
Educational programmes.
Community projects.
Football development initiatives.
The football benefits would follow naturally.
If it helps develop young players from an early age, relationships are built long before Europe’s biggest clubs arrive.
Why Not Use Former Players?
This is where somebody like Kwadwo Asamoah becomes interesting.
It shows the type of network modern clubs should be building.
Why not have former players acting as club representatives around the world?
Former players in Ghana.
Nigeria.
South Africa.
Japan.
Australia.
The United States.
Running coaching clinics.
Supporting academy partnerships.
Identifying talented young players.
Reporting back to the club.
I think Celtic should be far more ambitious in that area.
It Fits Celtic’s Original Purpose
The biggest reason this makes sense is because it aligns perfectly with what we were created to be.
Founded to help people and to support communities facing hardship.
Those values remain just as relevant today.
Expanding that philosophy globally feels like a natural next step.
And if talented footballers emerge from those programmes along the way, that’s an added bonus.
Too often our recruitment strategy feels focused on the next bargain signing.
Kwadwo Asamoah’s academy is an example of long-term thinking.
Key Takeaways
- Kwadwo Asamoah’s academy in Ghana exemplifies how former players can contribute to football development.
- Celtic has a global reach but is underutilising it; the club should build academy partnerships in Africa.
- Creating training camps and community projects can enhance Celtic’s reputation and scouting capabilities.
- Former players could represent Celtic worldwide, helping to identify talent and build connections.
- Expanding Celtic’s outreach aligns with the club’s founding values of supporting communities in need.
Eric Knott 
Bhoycie 
This would be a great initiative Aidan but our board are too hard of thinking to forge partnerships like this because they’d have to spend money, we both know it would pay back anything invested and would be self sufficient in a matter of years but the bottom line on the balance sheet means more to this board. There’s so many untapped markets and revenue making streams that these people haven’t even thought about, every Celtic supporter knows they’re holding us back through being risk averse and utterly incompetent and Desmond’s inability to accept that we could be doing so much more and making profits beyond his wildest dreams is stunting the growth of this club. This is a business with a one hundred million pound per year turnover being run like a little girl playing at shop with her dolls and a till, there’s not another business in the world that would accept NED’s still being there for over 20 years it’s not healthy for the business and we’re missing out badly in terms of the finances that should have us in another stratosphere but we’re still only one step ahead of the rest of the SPFL dreck we face each year. Hearts title challenge should’ve been a wake up call but I don’t trust this board to advance the club in any meaningful way. They’ve brought Martin back but are trying to negotiate a drop in wages for Shaun and Fozzy who were as vital as the boss in getting us to the double, you couldn’t make this shit up. Shaun himself is supposed to be pathway manager, first team coach and now head of football operations, he’s juggling about seven plates in the air and they don’t want to remunerate him accordingly. I’ll bet that this transfer window is another disaster with the same old excuses that it’s a World Cup year, players changed their minds about coming, the tax laws in Belgium and Italy are complicated but every other club in the world manages to successfully sign players in these circumstances. The truth is that the cronyism, nepotism and the Peter Principle of overpromoting people who’ve not got the credentials to do the job they’re tasked with is killing Celtic from within. So in summary you’ve brought up an excellent point but there’s no way this Celtic board have got the foresight to initiate a system like this despite it paying dividends aplenty as they’re just not built for advancement on any front and that’s the sad indictment on them as a collective.