Before the start of the 2016-17 league season, Liberia international forward Amadaiya Rennie ended his five years of professional soccer in Sweden and moved to Turkey, where he joined Turkish Super League team Antalyaspor, the club of four-time African player of the year Samuel Eto’o.
In search of first-team football, Rennie parted ways with Hammarby, where he made just 39 appearances in two years. With a bulk of Liberian players playing in Asia and some of Europe’s lower-tier leagues, Liberians described his move to Antalyaspor as the best of the summer.
He might have secured the best summer move, but it has turned out to be one of the worst, as premiere football has been absent from this Turkish team. Despite scoring in his debut in a friendly match against Al Ahli Dubai, Rennie is yet to convince Coach Riza Calimbay of a starting spot.
From 20 of Antalyaspor’s matches in both the Super League and the Turkish Cup, Rennie was able to make just three appearances, two in the league and one in the Turkish Cup, where he played the full 90 minutes.
He made his league debut on the opening day of the league Osmanlispor, coming on as a substitute in the 72nd minute to help Antalyaspor secure a point, and went unused as a substitute in the second league match, which Antalyaspor lost 2-1.
His second and most recent appearance this season was Antalysapor’s 3-1 loss to Konyaspor. The 26-year-old was put in the starting eleven and played 64 minutes before being substituted. Since the match against Konyaspor, Rennie is yet to make Antalyaspor’s eighteen-man match day team.
His absence from Antalyaspor looks insignificant with the team playing well. Since his omission from the team, Antalyaspor has won eight and drawn three of their last 15 games. They are currently seated fifth on the table with 38 points in 18 games.
Featured photo courtesy of Antalyaspor
