In two years he has gone from playing in dirt fields to becoming holder of Real Valladolid . Mohammed Salisu (Accra, Ghana, 20 years old) left everything for football and arrived in a new country without knowing neither the team, the language nor, above all, the Spanish game.
The cold climate of the city of Castilla y León did not affect its ability to adapt to this challenge. The Ghanaian defender has grown tactically to impress who was waiting for his success.
On Sunday he managed to score his first goal in LaLiga against Eibar (2-0) and contributed to leaving the goal of Pucela to zero. Only Atlético (5) and Athletic (7) have conceded fewer goals than the Valladolid (9) in the first 10 days.
The footballer was discovered by Fran Castaño, his coach at Accra, who left Spain to settle in Africa and become a talent exporter. There he founded the African Talent Football Academy (ATFA) and offered these young players support and infrastructure to dream of a career in European football.
Among those promises, Salisu said: “I found it very elegant and was also left-handed, which is very difficult in Africa. The technical level was very high and I didn't play long as they used to do there but I tried to play short, ”says Castaño.
The first obstacle was in understanding the type of game Salisu faced. Then I did not know Valladolid, which was playing in the Second Division, nor the Spanish game, very different from the Ghanaian, as the defense explains: “In Ghana we play more like in England but in Spain they play tiki taka, good football. In Ghana we hit and run, hit and go and play aggressive. ”
However, adapting to the game patterns and the new life that awaited him has never been a real problem for him, as VÃctor Fernández, second top scorer in the history of Valladolid in LaLiga, who trained him in Juvenil A del Pucela : “Fran told me that he was a central level and advised me. He told me that he was going to bring it to me for a week or two and that if I liked it I had it. I told Alberto Marcos [the quarry coordinator, another reference in Pucela] that I had to sign him now. It seemed that many things were tactically missing but he understood it easily and very quickly, despite the language.
Upon arrival, with two training sessions of mine, I saw that it marked differences. The physicist he had, also the inner and outer beating were bestial. Everything that is happening I imagined that it would happen. ”
Ten weeks later, Salisu was headline in the Promises, the subsidiary team of the Second Division b. He played 39 games and scored a bit. At that time he was already training with the first team but the opportunity presented itself when Valladolid sold Fernando Calero to Espanyol and was left with the need to fill that gap in the defense. He solved it with the young talent of the quarry.
The Ghanaian has appeared in every game this season. Only a few minutes against Espanyol for a muscular contracture that he recovered in a hurry to measure Morata and Diego Costa in the draw against Atlético on October 6 (0-0). After that match, LaLiga posted on Twitter: "A star is born."
His partner and mentor on the court is Kiko Olivas, who, 11 years older than him, tries to convey the secrets of the trade.
Olivas, as well as Fernández and Castaño, agrees on the aspects in which Salisu should improve: “It could improve tactically. He still lacks things but it is normal. You have to gain experience and know, above all, what is the best movement at every moment. Even so, he is playing incredible games and has it quite controlled, ”explains the Valladolid center. The excess of impetus led him to commit the fault caused by the penalty against Villarreal.
The African is a very shy and introverted boy. He still does not handle Spanish very well and in his spare time he prefers to stay at home because he likes to “watch movies” and “recover energies,” he says in English. When asked about his great inspiration, he has no doubts: “My idol is Umtiti because I like how he plays and in Ghana my friends called me that. He is very good with and without the ball. ”
Salisu has been the most important success of ATFA. Other talents keep coming from Ghana in hopes of reaching their level. Although he has a long way to go, if Castaño continues like this he is clear: "I think he will be one of the best centers of African football and if everything goes well he could play in one of the 10 best teams in the world.
By Thomas Channeton
Source: www.ilawjournals.com