Inbound Ayew To ‘Add Experience & Quality’
The new recruit arrives from Crystal Palace on a two-year deal having spent six years with the south London outfit and feels ready to take on a fresh challenge, adding a wealth of experience from his time in the Premier League and Ligue 1, as well as internationally for Ghana.
“I’m very happy and really pleased to be here, I’m proud,” the 32-year-old stated in his first interview at LCFC. “It happened quickly but the most important thing for me is that I’m here and ready to start.
“In life, you always need a change and new energy. I took the decision to come to Leicester because I think it’s a big club, first of all. I want to thank the Club, the Manager, the CEO, the Chairman, everyone, because they fought hard to bring me to this Football Club.
“I think it’s a big opportunity for me to show what I can do. I want to show that I can help everyone and add my little experience and quality to make the team better - hopefully it will work.”
Initial conversations with Steve Cooper outlined what he envisages Ayew’s role in the team to be, and why he was keen to bring the former Marseille forward to the Club in order to assist in achieving the Foxes’ ambitions for a first season back in the Premier League.
Determined to play his part in making 2024/25 a success, the Ghanian continued: “He just explained to me how he wants to use me and as a player you don’t really demand much. But when you hear that the Manager wants you, you just want to work under him and improve as well.
“Even though I’m 32, I still need to improve in a lot of aspects, and he assured me that I am going to improve as a player and as a person. I’m not just coming to hang around, I’m here to work hard and make sure that I help the team to reach the targets. Hopefully we have a great season all together with the fans and I’m really confident that this will be a good year.”
Having previously played together for the Black Stars, Ayew is excited to be linking up with Abdul Fatawu once more, and the rest of the squad, having watched on as the youngster made his Premier League debut in an encouraging 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Monday.
Although coming in after the start of the new campaign, having 275 English top-flight appearances to his name will allow Ayew to hit the ground running and bed in as a Foxes player quickly, both on and off the pitch.
“I’m really happy for him because he has done really well since he first came in and I’m really proud of him,” the ex-Aston Villa man said on Fatawu. “Obviously, he’s young and he has more years ahead of him, but I’m here to help not only him, but everyone.
“We have experience and we need to help the younger ones, but I expect them to help me as well; it’s teamwork. As a player, when you come into a new club, you want to settle down and make sure that everyone is happy.
“You have to prove yourself, you always do, and that’s something I’m keen on doing. I’m humbled and I want to just make sure that I perform and everyone has a great season and help whoever I have to help to perform.
“The most important thing is that, as a club, we do what it takes to have a great season. It was a really good game against Tottenham. The team played well; they performed well. Obviously, we all know that this season is going to be tough, so nothing is going to be easy.
“We’ll have to fight as a team, we’ll have to make sure that we give good performances to get results. We cannot control it, but we need to give good performances and that’s what we’re going to do.”