West Ham United forward Michail Antonio says the rationale behind the establishment of an academy in Ghana is to give opportunities to young talents in the country.

Antonio is part of the ongoing project with Samba Stars Academy in Bompata, Kumasi, with the attacker already in Ghana to inspect the progress of work.

The 34-year-old received a warm welcome at the Kotoka International Airport on Sunday, November 10, following his arrival from the UK.

Michail Antonio touches down in Ghana. He will pay a visit to his football academy, Samba Stars, in Kumasi.#JoySports pic.twitter.com/PmlXFMtg5p

— #JoySports (@JoySportsGH) November 10, 2024

According to him, the establishment of the academy will help transfer more Ghanaian talents to England and many parts of the world to play football with many scouts involved.

"It’s just obviously the talent in the pool that Ghana has and to give the motherland the opportunity to get their players or family over to the UK or worldwide playing football," he told the media.

"You see the talent with Mo [Kudus] and so many other players moving. It’s just an inspiration for me to be able to give that opportunity to players here."

He revealed some of the players have already started to make moves with more expected in the coming years.

"Three of our players have already signed; one player signed for Chelsea and another two signed for Middlesborough," he mentioned.

"We are giving this a showcase; play tournaments which we [Samba Stars Academy] won the last tournament. We give them a showcase, we bring scouts; Chelsea has come down, and Anderlecht and Southampton have also come down.

"We bring teams across the world to Ghana to have a look at our players and give them opportunities. If they are good enough, they get picked. If they don't then we go again. We training more players and we keep bringing them. So how many players we can get into the league, we can."

The Jamaican will spend the next few days in Ghana before jetting off to Jamaica for the international break.