Ghana coach Otto Addo has dropped captain Andre Ayew from the Black Stars squad ahead of the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers, according to reports.
The Black Stars will face Mali on June 6 at Bamako before hosting Central Africa Republic at the Baba Yara Stadium on June 10.
The West Africa powerhouse will be aiming to secure maximum in both games after a sloppy start to the qualifiers last year.
The Black Stars inflicted a 1-0 win over Madagascar before succumbing to a narrow defeat to Comoros. They are currently fourth on the table in Group I.
Otto Addo, who arrived in Ghana on Monday will on Wednesday, May, 29, 2024 announce his squad for the games against Mali and Central Africa Republic.
And according to reports, Andre Ayew has been left out of the squad for the crucial games.
This was after his team Le Havre excluded him from players who will ne on national duty for their various countries next month.
The list, which includes Toure Abdoulaye of Guinea, Sangate Arouna of Senegal, Daler Kuzyaev of Russia, Nego Loic of Hungary, Kone Mohamed, and Operi Christopher of Ivory Coast, conspicuously does not include the skipper of the Black Stars.
The reported omission of Andre Ayew from the squad is believed to be in line with the new direction being charted by coach Otto Addo.
He is said to have met with some senior players in the team including Andre Ayew, Daniel Amartey and Thomas Partey conveying his vision to them.
He intends to rely mostly on young players as he aim to build a formidable squad for the country for subsequent tournament.
The Black Stars skipper, who joined Le Havre in November 2023 played a huge role to Le Havre escape the drop at the end of the campaign.
The 34-year-old Ghana forward scored five goals in 19 Ligue 1 games, emerging as the highest Ghanaian scorer in the top-flight in the just ended season.
In all competitions, Ayew scored six goals in 20 games for Le Havre.