Afriyie Acquah

Afriyie Acquah wore the number 94 shirt at Palermo for his mother, who survived a car crash that year. The midfielder had arrived in Sicily in February 2010 at 18, and went on to spend nearly a decade in Serie A.

Early career

He was born in Accra on 5 January 1992 and came through the Glentoran Football Academy in Sunyani, founded by the Northern Irishman Christopher Forsythe, where he was named best Ghanaian midfielder under 14. Work-permit rules stopped a move to Glentoran in Belfast, and he joined Bechem United before Palermo signed him from D.C. United Agogo. The transfer later earned Palermo a fine for breaching third-party ownership rules.

Italy and beyond

He made his Serie A debut against Fiorentina in February 2011. Hoffenheim bought him for €2.5 million in January 2013 but never played him, and he returned to Italy on loan at Parma, where he scored his first goal against Roma in April 2014, and Sampdoria. Torino signed him in June 2015 and Empoli in August 2018. He later played in Turkey for Yeni Malatyaspor, where he became vice-captain, in Saudi Arabia for Al Batin and, from February 2023, in Iraq for Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya. He learned Italian from a private tutor after moving to Italy.