Ghanaian Felix Afena Gyan plays down racist remark in Jose Mourinho’s heartwarming gesture

Ghanaian youngster Felix Afena Gyan says he was not offended by a remark, initially taken to be racist towards him in a video in which he received a gift of Balenciaga shoes worth £671   from AS Roma coach Jose Mourinho on Monday.

The enterprising Ghanaian forward dominated the headlines after helping AS Roma defeat Genoa in Serie A.

The 18-year-old came off the bench in the 75th minute of Roma’s game at Genoa, and netted a late double to give the Giallorossi a 2-0 win.

He broke the deadlock in the 82nd minute and then added a stunning long-range strike in injury time to wrap up the points at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Before the game, the Roma manager had promised to buy the Ghanaian his favourite shoe should he score against Genoa.

However, after hitting a brace to propel the side to victory, the Portuguese trainer delivered his promise of buying the high-flying Ghanaian forward a Balenciaga shoes.

While unwrapping the sneaker presented to him by Mourinho, someone was heard off camera saying: “There are bananas inside.”

But the Ghanaian attacker says he took no offence to an off-camera remark made in a video of him receiving a gift from Jose Mourinho which people deemed racist.

According to him, there was no racial meaning behind the comment, and instead insisted it was an inside joke about his diet.

“I have been reading a lot of comments about the video I published earlier today of a special moment for me with the coach. I want to assure you all that I was not offended by the background comment made in the video in any way — and that I truly believe there was no racist intent

“Since the first day I arrived at the club I have been welcomed into the family by everyone, who have joked with me like they do all members of the family. Because they see that I eat bananas a lot that has become a thing we laugh about sometimes — and I believe the comment was another example of that.” He posted on Instagram.