Former Black Stars defender, Samuel Inkoom, has revealed that he was rewarded $1 million, a Rolex watch, and a ride in a private jet after completing his transfer to Dnipro in 2011.
The former Asante Kotoko right-back revealed that the money and the watch was his signing-on fee.
He revealed that the money was handed to him in a briefcase along with the watch and was handed a private jet to travel from Switzerland to complete the deal in Ukraine.
“Yes, it’s true that was my signing-on fee. The owner of Dnipro is one of the richest guys and he is Jewish. He had so much money and my deal was ‘I will come, I won’t come’ and he was like ‘come, whatever you need I will give it to you’. At a point in time, I was having a private jet and that’s something that nobody knows…It was a gift for me making that decision,” he told Fiifi Banson TV.
Reflecting on the feeling of holding $1 million cash, he said he could not sleep and that he was excited but was scared at the same time.
“To be honest, trust me, I couldn’t sleep. That was the first time seeing money like that. I was excited and I was also scared. I was like he brought the private just, so he can take the money back. So a lot of things were going through my mind. He told me don’t worry, I will make sure you put the money in a perfect account…
Inkoom believes that his huge signing-on fee was a reward for all his hard work throughout his come-up until the Denipro transfer.
“I was working hard in Wenneba. I played for Hassaacas before I came to Asante Kotoko. My salary in Asante Kotoko was GH150.000(1.50 million old currency), so for me to receive this kind of money, I was so excited. I saved the money. I think I put the money in my account for like a month before I started planning what to do with it.”
Samuel Inkoom who joined Dnipro in 2011 spent three seasons where he spent the last two years of his contract on loan to Bastia and Platanias FC.
He left the club on a permanent transfer to MLS side D.C. United in 2014. The 32-year-old has played for 14 clubs in his career.
Inkoom who is currently unattached has confirmed that he is not considering hanging up his boots. He last played for Accra Hearts of Oak in the Ghana Premier League in 2023.
Watch Samuel Inkoom’s interview below from 8:30