Milan Welcomes Adiyiah

Quick, inventive and with a superb first touch, Adiyiah is starting to hit the headlines in Europe almost as frequently as his goals came in Cairo. With Ronaldinho in blistering form, Pato in his elite standards and Pirlo, showing glimpses of his old self, the emerging chap can only learn in his time at Milan. Earning the Golden Boot and Best Player awards at the Under-20 tournaments was an extra conviction that he is set for a promising start in the Italian Serie A. Wish him all the best!

When Dominic Adiyiah arrived at the U-20 World Cup in Egypt, he was supposed to play second fiddle to proven youth striker Ransford Osei. And why not? Osei described by Fifa.com as an "opportunistic goal machine" had already won the golden boot at the African U-17, silver boot at the world U-17, and golden boot at the African U-20 championships. Adiyiah though, was no slouch coming into Egypt. He had been voted the MVP of the Ghana Premier League in 2007, and the Most Exciting Player in 2008. He also had a few games for the Black Satellites under his belt and a decent goal scoring record. But both had been at the African Youth Championship in Rwanda in January 2009 and Osei had outscored Adiyiah by 7 goals to 1.

The combination of these two bright talents proved too much for the defences in Egypt to handle. Between them they scored 12 goals. This time Adiyiah came out on top with 8 of the goals, a tally that won him the tournament's golden shoe. His scintillating performances also won him the golden boot, and it was inevitable that the big clubs would come calling. In the end Adiyiah penned for Italian giants AC Milan.

The 21-year old had his contract ratified in the January transfer window, but could not join the Rossoneri because of national team commitments at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. Now his work permit has been approved by the Italian embassy in Accra, and Adiyiah has arrived in Milan. He is expected to begin training with the 7-time European champions today.

"This is a new journey for me and I am going out there to do my very best for AC Milan," Adiyiah told Ghanasoccernet.com. "I know this will have a bearing on my national team prospects and I know the only solution is hard work. "I am going to work in forceful and full determination to be successful. I am confident I will succeed." In Italy he will come up against Ghanaian opposition - Sulley Muntari in Inter Milan, Stephen Appiah in Bologna, Jonathan Mensah and Kwadwo Asamoah in Udinese.

Africa waits.