Black Stars Head Coach Otto Addo has named Jordan Ayew as his next captain for the two remaining qualifiers for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Ghana will play Angola on Friday, November 15 in Luanda before returning to the Accra Sports Stadium to host Niger in the last Group F qualifier.
Announcing his squad on Thursday, November 7, Otto Addo said he asked Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey to excuse himself from joining the squad after an initial request from him.
The stand-in captain had sat out in the last games against Sudan.
Already, substantive captain Andre Dede Ayew has not been called up since the group-stage exit from the 2023 AFCON.
Kudus captained the team in the Sudan doubleheader last month. Ghana drew goalless in the first leg and went 2-0 down in the second leg played in Bengazhi, Libya.
“At the end, I decide to take a new captain for the team and this will be Jordan [Ayew],” Otto Addo told journalists during his presser.
“So, I talked to Kudus for him to understand that for me, he still needs to learn or grow into that role and I want him to stay and be second captain with [Alexander] Djiku but Jordan will take over from now and he will lead and guide the team.”
After he led the Stars to that poor showing against Sudan, Kudus had a nightmare in his first game for West Ham United.
Despite scoring the opening goal in the Hammers’ English Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur, he was red-carded after a bust-up with Micky Van der Ven.
He cited negative comments on social media as affecting his preparations for that tie.
Jordan Ayew has been instrumental in his club since the last outing for the Black Stars.
He scored the vital equaliser in Leicester City’s 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town last Saturday.
