Laryea Kingston Profile

He first came into the limelight in 1996 when he was hired as a player for Great Olympics. He played as a full-back and excelled. He was invited to Ghana's U-17 team in 1997 aged 17 and played in the African U-17 Cup and the U-17 World Cup that year.

He stayed on as a player with Olympics and got invited to Ghana's U-21 team in 1999. He was a key midfield player in the team that won the African youth Cup in 1999. He thus played in central midfield for the U-21 side in the 1999 World Cup in Nigeria where he excelled. His exploits earned him his first foreign contract that did not last. He finally found a club in Libya and played there for almost a year after which he walked out of his contract due to what he claims to be inhuman treatment by his club.

It was then that Hearts of Oak spotted him and recruited him. Hearts fought hard to get his transfer certificate from Libya and that began his career with Hearts in 2001. At Hearts he developed a habit for scoring goals, especially when he played as an attacking midfielder. His performances has seen him go to Europe several times for trials. He was loaned to Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia for 4 months after which he returned to Hearts.

His main position is in midfield (offensive). His strengths are abundant stamina, scorer of important goals, a good shot, great passing ability and defense splitting moves. He is not very tall but is relatively well built compared to other Ghanaian players.

He would have featured in the Ghana team that so impressed in Germany 2006, had it not been for a four-match ban incurred in a 2006 African Nations tie with Senegal which forced him to miss the tournament. That episode is indicative of his reputation as a tough competitor, prone to overstepping the mark. However, there is far more to his game than sheer brawn; a player with fine touch, excellent distribution skills, and a powerful engine

Kingston is a younger brother of Ghana's national keeper Richard Kingston.

• January 2006: Kingston joins the Moscow club from FC Terek of Chechnya. He made 15 league appearances for FC Krylya Sovetov Samara before spending the second half of the 2005 season with Terek. He moved to Russia from Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2004.

• Joined Scottish side, Hearts, in January 2007 on loan from his Russian club. He was then signed in June 2007 for €500,000 after a succesfuul trial period
• June 2010: release by Hearts
• Aug 2010: Signed for Vitesse Arnhem
• August 2016 -- Ex-Ghana international Laryea Kingston has signed a short-term deal with Northern Cypriot second-tier side Genclik Gucu Sport Club.