American topflight side Sporting Kansas City II, have announced the signing of 19-year-old striker Rauf Salifu on season-long loan from Ghanaian side Accra Lions FC.
The deal also has an option to buy the player at the end of 2022 once he impresses the club’s technical handlers.
Sporting KC II will welcome Salifu ahead of the club’s 2022 campaign in MLS NEXT Pro, a new professional league that will kick off in late March. First-year head coach Benny Feilhaber and assistant coach Ike Opara, standout players for Sporting last decade, will lead SKC II for the club’s seventh season since launching in 2016.
Salifu enjoyed a remarkable breakout during the 2020-21 season in the second-tier Ghana Division One, guiding Accra Lions FC to a league title and promotion to the Ghanaian Premier League. He led the division with 21 goals as part of a Lions attack that scored a league-high 57 times in 28 games.
The 2021-22 Ghanaian Premier League season has seen Salifu continue to star for the Lions, as the forward has scored a team-best three goals.
