Kelvin Ofori arrived at Fortuna Dusseldorf’s Austrian training camp late in the evening of July 17. Club staff members and reporters mingling over a nightcap at the hotel bar lifted their heads in surprise. There had been some talk of a mysterious attacking midfielder from Ghana joining Fortuna for a trial. But they didn’t expect a slight, 5ft 6in teenager ambling past them in civilian clothes in a state of acute tiredness.



The boy’s legs were heavy from a 48-hour odyssey that had taken him from Accra in his native Ghana via Marrakesh, Casablanca, London and Munich to Maria Alm, the alpine village just south of the border with Germany where the Bundesliga side were preparing for the season. Ofori was a little apprehensive before his first session the next morning. He had never trained with adult professionals before.



Dusseldorf coach Friedhelm Funkel, he had heard, preferred to work with seasoned players rather than young hopefuls. And there was...