Emmanuel Sabbi at Le Havre

Anyone familiar with Las Palmas? Is it a good club to develop at? Is this a good move for him or just a move?

 

Last season was their first time in the 1st division since 01/02.

 

Looking over their transfers from recent years to see if they'd moved homegrown players on to bigger things:

• Vitolo to Sevilla in 2013. He's gone on to be a starter there and has three caps for Spain.
• They also sold an 18 year old to Atlético Madrid in that same year (Héctor Hernandez) but he's since gone on loan and hasn't stuck.
• In 2012, they sold Jonathan Viera to Valencia for €2.5m; he's since gone on to play for Rayo Vallecano and Standard Liège and is now back with Las Palmas.
• In 2011, they sold Álvaro Cejudo to Osasuna and he's been a mostly regular La Liga starter since.
• Salomón Rondon played there from age 18-20 before being sold to Málaga in 2010, and later to Rubin Kazan, Zenit, and West Brom.

They have a decent number of local players in their squad, too. So they seem okay, at least.

 

Just curious on the Ghanaian passport thing. I know Ghana is one of the African countries whose citizens don't need a visa to live and work in Spain but I didn't know they counted as domestics in the eyes of the Spanish FA.

It was my understanding that the limit is specifically 3 non-EU players and while the visa would allow, say, an 18 y/o Ghanaian player to live there and play with the reserves without issue from the government but in order to register for the first team of Spanish club he would still occupy 1 of those 3 non-EU spots since having a visa isn't the same as being citizen.

I could definitely be wrong, this is all based on very light knowledge of subject and regardless, it's non-issue for Sabbi who we're 99% sure was born in Italy making him a full fledged EU citizen.

 

In Spain, they count players from Cotonou Agreement countries as domestics. That's how Shaq Moore, for example, could sign in Spain (T&T is a signatory to the agreement).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/7032661.stm

BTW - only a small handful of countries outside of the Americas have jus soli, so being born in Italy does not guarantee that Sabbi has Italian citizenship.

 

Heck, Mario Balotelli was born in Italy and still had to wait until 18 to get his passport.

There are several comments early in this thread that question how he could be an Italian citizen.

 

Ghana wants to remind us they might still be in the mix:

http://ghanasoccernet.com/las-palma...will-consider-playing-for-ghana-if-approached

 

They say Ghanaian born, but wasn't he born in Italy?

 

It's a site that has never been good with things like "facts."

 

This quote from Sabbi to Ghanasoccernet:

“As for Ghana, if the opportunity arises, then that will be the end of the conversation."

— Will Parchman (@WillParchman) August 25, 2016

So, this isn't inspiring and I'm not sure I'm so excited about him playing for us anymore.

 

Come on, let's take this with a grain of salt, this isn't a very reputable website that is pro-Ghana. I doubt very much the quote is accurate.

 

http://ghanasoccernet.com/ghanaian-...escribes-las-palmas-move-as-a-dream-come-true

http://ghanasoccernet.com/confirmed...el-sabbi-signs-for-spanish-side-ud-las-palmas

This author goes back and forth pretty interchangeably between the two, even in the headline/body of the that second link.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that what he says "Ghanaian-born" he means that by Sabbi's being born to two Ghanaian's he is therefore "born a Ghanaian citizen". Not that that is necessarily correct either.

 

Great info on both, thanks.

 

You're right, he's a kid and that's a tabloid. I'm just saying I got less excited, not that I blame him.

 

Tinta Amarilla also reported back on the 12th that Seyi Adekoya was trialing as well. He may have wanted to keep it secret from the Bruins, lol, because he retweeted Sabbi's signing announcement but made no mention of being there himself.

Here he is with Sabbi:




http://www.tintaamarilla.es/noticia...rueba_a_un_ariete_estadounidense_Adekoya.html

 

A nice article I missed before from Tinta Amarilla. A liitle Canary hype.






If Kevin Prince Boateng is the media darling of the first team of UD Las Palmas, the signing Enmanuel Sabbi as a Las Palmas Atletico player has had a similar ample impact in the international media. We have already reported that the Chicago Magic player, born in Italy but developed in the United States- had been conducting a test on the island until Tuesday the Gran Canaria club decided his move.

The news published in Tinta Amarilla has had a following and the confirmation that Sabbi will be a player for the Yellow (still pending bureaucratic paperwork toenable his debut) has caused aftershocks in several countries, especially in the United States and Ghana.

Because even NBC devotes a piece on Sabbi on its website, identifying with the La Liga team where Kevin Boateng plays. In the United States Socceramerica also welcomes this leap forward to Las Palmas, reminding that he joins a list of US young players jumping to Europe in 2016. These are:

Danny Barbir, West Bromwich (England)
Luca de la Torre, Fulham (England)
Kevin Coleman, Kaiserslautern (Germany)
McKenze Gaines, Wolfsburg (Germany)
Brooks Lennon, Liverpool (England)
Ethan Lotenero, Belenenses (Portugal)
James Murphy, Sheffield Wednesday (England)
Matthew Olosunde, Man. United (England)
Joshua Perez, Fiorentina (England)
Christian Pulisic, Bor. Dortmund (Germany)
Emmanuel Sabbi, Las Palmas (Spain)
Haji Wright, Schalke 04 (Germany)

They provide the Information with a picture of the U20 US team, where the player militant who now receives his orders from Manuel Marquez battles.

Ghana also disseminated information on the presence of Sabbi on the grancanario club. Ghanasoccernet reminds that he was born in Italy but of Ghanaian parents. They then establish a visual relationship with UD Las Palmas because it is the team where one of the idols of the country, Kevin-Prince Boateng, plays.

Sabbi has shown on his personal account his satisfaction with the opportunity to stay in Gran Canaria, thanking all those who have helped him get this far. Now the climb really begins.

 

Prince Boateng is an idol in Ghana huh? He of a whopping 15 caps and conveniently retiring from International football after a World Cup in his mid twenties?

 

I didn't write it

 

Does anyone know what level Emmanuel is at UD Las Palmas? I can't find anything.

 

Set to start playing initially with Las Palmas Atlético, in the third Division (same level as Akale) once his paperwork is complete.