Black Stars head coach, Chris Hughton, has revealed he tried signing signing late Ghanaian international, Raphael Dwamena when he was the head coach of Brighton & Hove Albion.

Dwamena was on the verge of joining the Premier League club in 2017 but the deal fell through due to his heart conditions.

Speaking for the first time after the demise of the player, coach Hughton noted that the late Ghanaian striker was someone he met when he was alive.

According to him, the late Raphael Dwamena would have been the first Ghanaian to play for Brighton, not for his health condition that robbed him of his chance.

“Regards to the thoughts, he will be in the thoughts of all of us and on a personal note, I knew him. I was the manager of Brighton in 2017 when we tried to sign him. He was someone I met, I was aware of his circumstances,” Hughton said at the Press Conference ahead of Ghana’s game against Madagascar.

“We had just got promotion to the Premier League, so this would have been a wonderful opportunity for him. He would have been the first Ghanaian to play for Brighton in my squad," he added.

Raphael Dwamena died on Saturday, November 11, during a football match in Albania.

Meanwhile, the Black Stars will observe a minute silence for the late striker when they face Madagascar in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers at the Baba Yara Stadium today.