The former captain of Hearts of Oak, Fatawu Mohammed, has issued an apology to fans of the club after his advice to forward, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh.

Mohammed has been with the Phobians for 10 years, after joining from Real Tamale United in 2012. Six years later, he was named as the club's captain before earning his first and only Black Stars invitation ahead of a World Cup qualifying fixture away to South Africa in November 2021.

Together with Barnieh, Mohammed ensured the Phobians ended a decade's trophyless spell by ousting rivals Kotoko, to the 2020/21 Ghana Premier League and FA Cup titles. A year later, Barnieh was instrumental as Hearts successfully defended the FA Cup, scoring in the quarter and semi-finals.

A year prior, the 21-year-old scored twice in the U-20 AFCON final victory over Uganda, leading Ghana to its 4th silverware in the division as captain. Subsequently, Barnieh was instrumental as Ghana’s Black Galaxies staged a return to the CHAN tournament, scoring two goals in the play-off tie with Nigeria, before being named in Ghana’s final squad to the 2022 World Cup.

These performances in a space of two years, saw the attacker’s stocks rise – leaving his future with Hearts in the balance as he neared the end of his contract. Club CEO, Togbe Afede, in November 2022 revealed, the club had made zero progress in contract renewal negotiations with the player due to his engagement
with the Black Stars and Black Galaxies.

And with his contract set to expire at the end of the year, Hearts has recently come under induced pressure after comments by Fatawu Mohammed.

• ‘God will not forgive me if I advise Daniel Afriyie to stay at Hearts of Oak’ – Fatawu Mohammed

However, the defender, speaking to Joy Sports revealed his explosive interview was misconstrued.

“I had no bad intentions because if you listen to the full video, I said if Barnieh was to leave the club, it will be good for Hearts to gain something from the transfer instead of him leaving for free. But I cannot advice him to stay in the Ghana Premier League.

“But the understanding was different, so I will use this platform to apologise to Hearts fans who got hurt. I am very sorry.”

Mohammed himself is now without a club after being informed that his services were no longer needed with the Premier League giants, as he confirmed to Joy Sports' Haruna Mubarak.

“For now, I am no longer a Hearts of Oak player. I have been told by the management I can’t work for them anymore,” the 30-year-old indicated before revealing the club was yet to fully release him.

“But I am still a Hearts of Oak player, because everything of mine is still with them. So until I receive them I am still a player at Hearts.”