Afena-Gyan ready to make Roma return

Ghanaian youngster Felix Afena-Gyan has recovered from Covid-19, giving struggling Roma a major boost.

The 18-year-old took to social media to announce his new status on Friday.

The Sunyani-born has had to isolate from team duties at Stadio Olimpico since testing positive in November, forcing him out of his club’s last two league matches against Bologna and Inter Milan.

His return is welcome news for Jose Mourinho’s outfit ahead of their home encounter with Spezia on Monday.

“Negative at last! Looking forward to training with my teammates again!” Afena-Gyan posted on Twitter.

The young striker, who only recently gained promotion to Roma’s first team, will be looking to make his first appearance for the side since scoring a sensational double to ensure a 2-0 victory over Genoa last month.

After his big night, he was forced to sit out the Yellow and Red’s next game, a Europa Conference League fixture with Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk, owing to not being registered for the competition as he was playing for Roma’s youth side at the start of the championship.

Despite his fine showing against Genoa, the teenager was ignored on the bench as Roma beat Torino 1-0 in their next league game.

The Ghanaian then suffered a big disappointment ahead of their Serie A matchday 15 tie with Bologna as he tested positive for Covid-19 and was forced into isolation, a situation which also ruled him out of a clash with Inter Milan three days later.

On Thursday, Roma, still without Afena-Gyan, recorded a 3-2 away victory over Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia but the Ghanaian would have missed the game even if he were not out with Covid-19 as he remains unregistered for the Uefa Conference League, at least for the time being.

So far, the striker has made three first-team appearances in all for Mourinho’s outfit since making his first-team and professional debut against Cagliari.

He may well be away from Roma once again for a longer spell, starting from later this month until January or February, should he be included in Ghana’s squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon.