Asamoah has not played for Ghana since the 2014 World Cup defeat to Portugal after a series of injuries. He has been back at club level for two years, but has so far held off on a return to the national team.

"I really love this country. I am always ready to come. I was not coming because I had so many injury problems," he tells KweséESPN. "I didn't want to join when I was not fully fit. Very soon if everything is fine I will join this team."

The comments will offer little comfort to Black Stars coach Kwesi Appiah, who is keen to have Asamoah back, especially given the player's comments a year ago.

"I am hoping to come back strongly and join the team. [It's] just that for the past year I have not been playing [for Juventus] consistently, so I will be very happy to join the team as soon as possible," he said back then.

Asamoah's absence has been a difficult puzzle for the Ghana Football Association to solve. The player admits he met previous coach Avram Grant and GFA president Kwesi Nyantekyi over a potential return last year, but then turned down the chance to play at the 2017 Nations Cup.