Football is littered with players that have failed to live up to the expectations placed upon their young shoulders. The name Mohammed Aminu was once meant to set the footballing world alight after signing for Manchester City for £2 million in 2018 at just 17.
But now 22, the young Ghanaian- once seen as a world beater, Aminu’s name is rarely mentioned without a melancholic pondering of “whatever happened to” preceding it- unless of course his name is being referenced in fable-like fashion, warning of the pressures of mounting expectation upon the shoulders of young footballers.
A youngster not living up to the hype isn't something we haven't seen before as football fans, but after so much promise, Aminu completely fell off the face of the earth and into the void. A tricky technician with silky footwork and flashy skills, the Ghanaian international quickly had eyes on him from a young age after impressing at local club Zebra FC at Yelwa, a suburb of Kumasi.
The West African Football Academy (WAFA) were first to recognise the talent of Aminu and quickly moved in to sign the budding talent. He would later represent Red Bull Salzburg, the parent club of WAFA at the 2017 AL Kass tournament in Doha, Qatar, where his impressive performances garnered interest from Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City, as did viral clips of him showcasing his skills and footwork in viral videos online.
Aminu was seemingly trapped at WAFA, but wouldn't be for much longer. In 2018, Manchester City managed to fend off competition from Europe's elite - snapping him up. Suddenly, a lot of pressure was on Aminu’s shoulders.
He was quickly loaned to Dutch side NAC Breda in the hope that the focus on young players in the Dutch football would be the perfect place for him to come to terms with the jump up to first-team football.
One year and a handful of uninspiring appearances later however, Aminu was back in Manchester. It had become very obvious that he was a supremely talented player with the ball at his feet, but that was it. Further loan spells at Dordrecht and Lommel followed but the outcome was the same. At no point between 2017 and 2022 - when he was quietly let go by Manchester City upon the expiry of his contract - did Aminu enjoy an extended spell of regular football at a level that would allow him to develop.
The truth is we have yet to see the real Aminu arrive and he has long since slipped from the conversation about the continent’s best young talents. Synonymous now with the tag of a faded footballer fumbling in the dark of the Greek fourth-tier league having joined AEP Kozanis recently, it has been sad to see such an unrestrained talent lose his famous fizz.
Mohammed Aminu was in early years, considered to be as good as, if not better than Ajax Amsterdam’s Mohammed Kudus. The two youngsters were in the Black Starlets team that represented Ghana at the FIFA World U17 Championship in India. The reality, however, is that, one has a blossoming career, whereas the other has toiled with the pressure of playing for a club and establishing himself as a regular starter.
At 22, many are of the opinion that Aminu has long pushed the realm of redemption and has lost his chance to mould a legacy worth reflecting on. When he departed WAFA, he had the opportunity to develop into one of the best Ghanaian players ever seen, but simply he couldn’t manage to force the right impression.
No matter how despairing a read it is to look back on the explosive, and admittedly destructive, career of Mohammed Aminu, it feels somewhat naive to write him off as a failed talent when he remains just 22 years old. With his new Greek club, this could finally be the extended period he needs to enjoy regular football away from the scrutiny and spotlight of football fans and media outlets.
By: Godfred Budu
