Nii Odartey Lamptey urges young African players not to start their careers in China

According to him, it is better to start in Europe and retire in China.

He advised that Belgium is the best destination for young African players to start their careers, since young players are given time to develop in Belgium by taking the players through the rudiments of football.

On racism, he said he had his fair share of it, but that did not deter him from achieving his dreams, because he had sacrificed so much to get to Europe and that he was there to play football.

He added that he feels bad about it and advised the current players to concentrate on their careers and relegate issues as regards racism.

He stated that he could not understand the contracts he signed because he had a weak academic background as a result of his quest to play football at the expense of his education.

This he said affected his finances since some of the payments due to him were not paid.

He paid glowing tribute to former Nigerian player and teammate at Anderlecht, Stephen Keshie, for taking him under his wings when he was having a torrid time at the club and wanted to go back home as a young boy.

He said he has named one of the pitches at his academy after Stephen Keshie for the key role he played in his life.

He disclosed that he is elated Liverpool has finally won their first league cup after three decades.

He, however, advised that it should not end there.  He said it will be difficult for Liverpool to be at par with Manchester United in terms of the number of league titles since football is unpredictable.

He bagged 38 caps for the Black Stars and led the Black Starlets to win the U-17 World Cup in 1991.

He signed for Anderlecht to kick start his European career and went on to play for a host of European clubs that included PSV Eindhoven, Ankaragücu, Greuther Fürth, and later played for Asante Kotoko in the Ghana Premier League.