He was subsequently signed by Roma in January and joined the club’s U-19 team, where he has excelled ever since.
On Wednesday, Afena-Gyan was handed his Roma debut by Jose Mourinho during the club’s Serie A win over Cagliari.
He came on as a second-half substitute after replacing left-back Matias Vina in the 57th minute of the game.
Afena-Gyan partnered Tammy Abraham up front as Roma came from behind to record a 2-1 win over Cagliari.
“I thank everyone, I dedicate my debut to everyone who supported me and is still supporting me,” he said in an emotional post-match interview.
“I thank the club and everyone in Rome. My mum who’s in Ghana… Mum, I love you. I love my agent, thanks to my club, the players and everyone.”
Meanwhile, Mourinho seemed to be impressed with Afena-Gyan’s debut performance and gave him a shout out in an Instagram post.