Ricketts resumes playing career with Valerenga By Steven Sandor Posted on November 5, 2012 1 0 650 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Tosaint Ricketts has finally restarted his professional career. The Edmonton striker was finally cleared to play for Valerenga, the team that signed him at the end of August. He came in as a 60th-minute sub Monday night in a 1-0 loss to Sogndal in Norwegian league action. Ricketts let his Twitter followers now that Valerenga had finally got his International Transfer Certificate with a one-word message, “FREEDOM!” The Canadian striker left Romania after his club FC Politehnica Timisoara, hadn’t paid him for four months. He lodged a complaint with the Romanian Football Federation and FIFA, claiming the Transylvanian team had breached his contract. After coming home to Edmonton and weighing his options, Ricketts impressed during a trial with Bundesliga 2. side Dynamo Dresden. The team wanted to sign him, but decided not to fight the Romanian Football Federation, which warned that it would not release Ricketts’ paperwork and claimed that the striker was still a Timisoara player and warranted some kind of transfer deal. Valerenga, which also features Edmonton keeper Lars Hirschfeld (leading to mock nickname, ValerYEGa), signed Ricketts at the end of August, and waited patiently for FIFA to process the case. Finally, in the first week of November, Ricketts got clearance to play for the club. Ricketts is on a deal to the end of the season. To see Avenue magazine’s exclusive feature on Tosaint’s ordeal with Timisoara, CLICK HERE.
