Former Swansea City star Andre Ayew has praised Zimbabwean starlet Tivonge Rushesha after the youngster’s outstanding goal for the Championship club’s U23 team.
Ayew appeared over 100 times for Swansea in two spells before joining Qatari side Al Sadd on a free transfer when his contract with the Welsh club expired at the end of last season.
However, the Ghana captain clearly has a soft heart for the Swans, as he reacted to footage of Rushesha’s long-range effort for the U23 team in their 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday.
The goal was shared on Twitter by the club, and Ayew responded with a message for the young defender.
😮💨 @Tivonge_r with a worldy for #SwansU23s yesterday 👏 pic.twitter.com/6CkMEu3RD0
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) April 5, 2022
Ayew signed twice for Swansea; once on a free transfer in 2015 and again in 2018 for a sum of £18million.
Between those two spells, he joined West Ham for a fee of £20.5million.
He scored 35 goals for the Swans.
Ayew twice inspired Swansea to the Championship play-offs as they came close to securing Premier League promotion.
The Ghanaian star’s praises will be a major confidence booster for Rushesha, who is edging towards his first team breakthrough at Swansea.
Zimbabwean starlet was recently given some extra responsibility at Swansea City after being handed the captaincy duties at the club’s Under-23 side in February.
Rushesha, a Wales Under-19 international, was born in Zimbabwe but moved to Britain as a youngster. He has come through Swansea’s academy ranks to being on the fringes of the first team.
The 19-year-old plays mostly as a right back but has in recent months shown his versatility after featuring in some matches as a central defender.
Having impressed for the Swansea youth side this season, Rushesha will now hope to catch the eye of Russell Martin in the coming months.