Chennaiyin FC rope in Ghanaian striker Karikari

Chennai, July 2: Indian Super League club Chennaiyin FC have bolstered their attack by signing forward Kwame Karikari ahead of the upcoming season. The Ghanaian footballer will be joining the Marina Machans following an impressive outing in the Thai League for Nakhonratchasima Mazda. He scored 13 goals in 29 league matches for the Thai club last season.Karikari was also the joint second highest goal scorer for Mazda in the Thai FA cup with four strikes from six games.Karikari brings in valuable experience to Chennaiyin’s attack, having played 261 games in his 11-year long professional career with 84 goals and 13 assists to his name.The striker has plied his trade for 12 clubs in eight top-tier leagues across the world.He also has two Europa League goals to his name, which came against CSKA Moscow and PSV Eindhoven in 2012.Talking about the club’s third foreign signing this summer, Chennaiyin FC co-owner Vita Dani said: “I would like to welcome Kwame Karikari to the Chennaiyin family. I think he’s got the technical ability and the physicality to succeed in India. We have had many great forwards at this club and I believe Kwame should be able to match those standards.”Karikari has spent most of his time in the Swedish league, featuring for AIK Solna, with whom he made his professional debut at 19 in 2011. He played 58 matches, including seven Europa League games, for them and scored 10 goals across competitions in five seasons.Halmstads and Degerfors were the other Swedish clubs Karikari turned out for.“I am very happy to join Chennaiyin FC. I cannot wait to get started with the new team and I am really looking forward to this new and exciting challenge,” said Karikari, who also represented Ghana at the U-20 Africa Cup.It was in 2015 when Karikari made a permanent move out of Sweden and joined Turkish side, Balikesirspor.He played 40 matches for them in two seasons, registering 12 goals and five assists. Later he turned out for clubs in countries like Norway, Qatar, Georgia and Uzbekistan.He was part of Dinamo Tabilisi’s title-winning campaign in the 2018-19 Georgian league.