Ahmed Apimah Barusso (born 26 December 1984) is a Ghanaian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Italian club A.S.D. Terme Monticelli.

Club career

Barusso started off his European footballing career at

Manfredonia Manfredonia () is a town and Comune, commune of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, from which it is northeast by rail. Manfredonia is situated on the coast, facing east, to the south of Monte Gargano, and gives its name to the Gulf of Manf ...

, where he moved after recommendations by Ghanaian football legend

Abedi Pele Abedi Ayew ( ; born 5 November 1964), known professionally as Abedi Pele, is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and served as captain of the Ghana national team. He is regarded as one of the grea ...

, from

Nania F.C. Football Club Nania is a Ghanaian professional Football team, football club based in Legon, Greater Accra Region, Greater Accra. They are competing in the Division One League. History Match fixing Scandal Maha Ayew, wife of Abedi Pele, who is a ...

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

. He helped Manfredonia to three successive promotions from the Italian amateur leagues (

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

) to

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

. At the start of the 2006–07 season Barusso was signed by

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

club

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

in a co-ownership deal that was later turned permanent after his immediate impact at his new club, including man of the match performances against

Juventus FC Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

and

Bologna F.C. 1909 Bologna Football Club 1909, commonly referred to as Bologna (), is an Italian association football, professional football club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Football in Italy, Italian football. The clu ...

. Barusso's success was nearly halted, however, after a fractured

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

after a tackle by Alfredo Cardinale in the week 9 game at

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

, forcing him to miss several games due to surgery.

Roma

On 15 June 2007, it was reported in the Italian media that

A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...

had secured the co-ownership signing of Barusso from

side Rimini. The move was made official on 9 July 2007. It cost €1.7 million to sign him in co-ownership deal. He was awarded no.29 shirt., which was taken by Nicolás Burdisso in 2009–10 season. Barusso made his

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

debut for

in a 3–0 away win over

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

on 7 October 2007, at the

Stadio Ennio Tardini Stadio Ennio Tardini, commonly referred to as just Il Tardini, is a association football, football stadium in Parma, Italy, located near the centre of Parma, between the town centre and the city walls. It is the home of Parma Calcio 1913. The s ...

. Barusso was loaned to Turkish

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

in January 2008, following the African Cup of Nations He was subsequently loaned out to Serie A team

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

in June 2008, along with Gianluca Curci as part of the deal that Roma signed Simone Loria and

Artur Artur is a cognate to the common male given name Arthur meaning "bear-like", or “of honour”. It is believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio or more probably from the Celtic word '' ...

. At Siena, He struggled to find a place in the first team (3 appearances). He was call-up to Roma's pre-season retreat on 2 July 2009. On 24 July 2009, as revealed by his agent Mauro Cavoli, Barusso signed

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

of Serie B on loan from AS Roma for a season, which made official on 27 July. On 31 January 2010, he was loaned to

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

where he met with Roma teammate Loria. Barusso almost won promotion back to Serie A with the club, which lost to Brescia in the final. On 25 June 2010, Roma bought him outright for another €100,000. He spent the other half of the 2010–11 season on loan at

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

. On 21 July 2011, it was reported that Barusso may sign with Israeli champions

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

, but the deal never materialized. In August 2011, Barusso had his car attacked, along with teammate

Stefano Okaka Stefano Chuka Okaka (; born 9 August 1989) is an Italian former Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward. He began his career at AS Roma, Roma, debuting shortly after his 16th birthday and being lo ...

, by angry Roma fans due to his unwillingness to be traded, which would free up a spot for a non-EU player to be brought in.

Late career

On 23 August 2012, Barusso joined

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

on a free transfer and next day, was moved out to Serie B side

Novara Calcio Novara Football Club, commonly referred to as Novara, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Novara, Piedmont. The club was founded in 2021 by the Novara, City of Novara to replace old Novara Calcio that lost its professional s ...

in a temporary deal. The signing was solely for granting Genoa a quota of non-EU signing when releasing him on 30 June 2013 as a free agent. On 30 January 2014, he returned to

. He was released on 30 June 2014 without any appearances. The club also received a quota to sign non-EU player

Josef Martínez Josef Alexander Martínez Mencia (born 19 May 1993) is a Venezuelan professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker for Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes and the Venezuel ...

. In February 2015 Barusso was signed by Lega Pro club

Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...

International career

Barusso was part of the Ghanaian Olympic Team, known as the Black Meteors that qualified for the

2004 Summer Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Honours

Ghana *

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

third Place:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barusso, Ahmed 1984 births Living people Footballers from Accra Ghanaian men's footballers Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Ghana men's international footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Men's association football midfielders Serie A players Serie B players Süper Lig players F.C. Nania players Manfredonia Calcio players Rimini FC 1912 players AS Roma players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Siena FC SSD players Brescia Calcio players Torino FC players US Livorno 1915 players ASG Nocerina players Novara FC players SS Arezzo players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen