Many football prospects are unable to live up to the expectations when they make a huge move to a top European club or even travel across different oceans to begin afresh on a new continent.
The few who are mentally fortified defy all the odds and challenges to hold on to the last straw of hope that brought them into their new space in the first place.
Those who do not make it are often tagged as failures, not hardworking enough, or simply the ‘what could have been.’ No one takes into consideration the challenges of settling into an alien environment without a familiar support system, nor the extreme weather conditions they have to adjust to, poor treatment, and sometimes outright racism that many of these young players are subjected to.
Other times, they are simply one bad injury away from never reaching their previous level. Just like Adriano, the Brazilian emperor in Milan, a career-threatening injury or a major setback in life such as the loss of a dear one does not often come into the picture when assessing a football prodigy who couldn’t make it to the limelight or a career that was short-lived.
For talented Ghanaian prospect, Isaac Kwabena Arthur, who has experienced all of these already in Europe, there’s nothing that can stop a 'Zongo' boy from achieving his dreams.
Isaac Kwabena Arthur's journey to Europe
Playing in Europe is something he manifested growing up while playing colts football in Ghana on the gritty pitches of Madina-Zongo.
Before making it to the lush green parks in Central Europe, he had to rise through the ranks in Ghana's football chain. Arthur’s impeccable talent was evident from the start and he was often playing against older age groups.
He then moved to Ghana Premier League side Berekum Chelsea where he won the Nsenkyire Cup. The year he turned 18 came with a golden opportunity to move to Serbia in 2023.
Arthur battled extreme cold in his first experience of winter in Europe when he moved from Berekum Chelsea to Serbian club FK Vozdovac.
The teenager had made a huge leap in life, and immediately encountered his first hurdle abroad – being moved to the club’s Under-19 team. He was later reintegrated into the senior team after they were relegated from the Serbian Super League but still didn’t get any playing time.
At this point, it was clear these challenges were just warming up even though he arrived in the winter. He seemed to have run out of luck in a strange land. Battling cold and a place on the bench.
“When I went there [Vozdovac], I was unlucky, I think it was winter. So, it wasn’t easy, very cold, it wasn’t easy but a young boy trying to make a life for himself, I know what I want. So, it was normal for me,” a determined Arthur told Pulse Sports.
He was not going to allow the cold weather to dry up his sweat that easily. Neither was he going to let being homesick hinder him from having something to write home about. His biggest motivation? His manager and agent, Alexander Quaye.
But that was only the beginning of his Balkan tribulations, and whether his manager’s voice was going be sufficient enough to power him through was to be seen.
Good news? A trial at Basel. Bad news? A contract termination at Vozdovac.
More good news? Basel contract offer. More bad news? Terrible thigh injury.
Vozdovac didn’t want to treat his injury while they silently processed his contract termination in the background. “It was a poor treatment,” the 19-year-old painfully recalls, adding that the club’s poor treatment of him was racially motivated.
“I could go for training there; they would just give you a dirty jersey and they would give the rest clean jerseys... because they already knew I’d be leaving. They don’t respect Africa,” Arthur retorts in an irascible tone.
However, he believes not every Serbian club treats Black players poorly or is racist towards marginalised groups.
Citing the two biggest clubs based in the Serbian capital of Belgrade, Red Star and Partizan, as an example, the young midfielder said: “Partizan and Red Star, they are not like that, they have more Blacks in their team, they would never [be] racist... they would never maltreat Blacks, they respect Blacks.
“Because I have friends in Red Star and Partizan, they always ask me questions like, how are things going?”
Trapped between a thigh injury and poor treatment by his parent club, guess who saved the day? Yes, you guessed right: His manager.
Arthur was initially scared by the possibility of Basel withdrawing their contract offer but that changed quickly. Reason? His manager assured him via text.
When his phone vibrated and the message “Never be scared, we have a solution” popped up on the screen he knew immediately that everything would be alright.
And true to his words, it was. Basel signed the teenage central midfielder before loaning him to another Swiss club, FC Schaffhausen last summer.
Newfound challenge
The Black Satellites midfielder has since found a new life in the Swiss second-tier, the Challenge League, and has taken up the challenge on his sleeves.
Arthur hopes to become a first-team player in Basel and follow in the footsteps of his football idols, Eduardo Camavinga and Fede Valverde, who both fought to become regular first-team members at Real Madrid.
As a central midfielder, he also looks up to Ghana legend and 2010 Champions League winner, Sulley Muntari, who also moved from Ghanaian club Liberty Professionals to Italian team Udinese as a teenager in 2001.
Just like Arthur, Muntari faced racial abuse in 2017 while playing for Pescara in Italy.
Muntari later accused FIFA and UEFA of not “taking racism seriously” in an interview with the BBC. He recounted the incident that forced him to walk off the pitch in the Italian top-flight match against Cagliari on April 30, 2017.
"I went through hell; I was treated just like a criminal. I went off the field because I felt it wasn't right for me to be on the field while I have been racially abused," he complained.
Muntari was given a one-game ban, which was later overturned.
Strengthened by stories of his idols and experiences in a faraway land, Arthur wants his talent to do the talking for him.
His main strengths are his ability to win duels and impressive shot power with his dominant left foot. His dream is to play for Manchester City and also be under the guidance of Carlo Ancelotti at one point in the future.
Having battled winter, racism, and injuries in Europe, discipline, he believes, is the key to winning these battles for the many other 'Zongo' boys who might not have an Alexander Quaye in their corner.