Michel Otou (born 1 November 1997) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ghanaian Premier League side Accra Great Olympics.[1] He previously played for and served as captain of International Allies.[2][3]
Otou started his career with Ghana Division One League side Unistar Academy before later moving to International Allies in 2017. In 2016 he went on a short-term loan to Portimonense SC.[4] In July 2017, he also went for a three weeks trials at Scottish Premiership side Hearts of Midlothian,[5][6][7] but couldn't secure a deal.[8][9] During the 2017 Ghana Division One League season, he scored 3 goals and made 5 assists in 13 league matches before moving on Scotland for the trails with Hearts.[7]
In December 2017, Otou was signed by Ghana Premier League side International Allies from Unistar Academy for an undisclosed fee.[8][9] During the 2018 Ghanaian Premier League, he played in a 14 league matches and scored 1 goal before the league was abandoned due to the dissolution of the GFA in June 2018, as a result of the Anas Number 12 Expose.[4] He made his debut on 16 March 2018 in the first match of the season, playing the full 90 minutes in a match against Bechem United as Victorien Adebayor scored a brace to secure a 3–0 win.[10] He scored his first goal for the club on 23 May 2018, converting a penalty to score the lone goal and help Inter Allies secure a 1–0 victory over Wa All Stars.[11] In April 2019, he was named as captain of the side.[2][12] He captained them during the 2019 GFA Committee Special Competition and was one of the club's stand out performers. He played in 13 out of 14 of the matches and scored 2 goals. On 11 April 2019, he converted a penalty in the 44th minute in a 2–1 win over Dreams FC.[13] He also scored a goal in a 4–2 win over West Africa Football Academy (WAFA) on 19 May 2019.[14] He featured in 4 matches in the 2019–20 Ghana Premier League season before the league was put on hold and later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] He parted ways with the club after he had few months remaining on his contract.[12][3]
Ahead of the 2020–21 Ghana Premier League, he signed for Accra Great Olympics along with his former Inter Allies colleague, Saed Salifu.[15][1] On 10 January 2021, he made an assist to Gladson Awako to score a goal in the 14th minute of a match against Ashanti Gold,[16][17] even though the match ended in a 2–1 loss, he was ajudged as the man of the match.[17]
Otou was a member of the Ghana national under-20 football team from 2015 to 2017. He was a member of the squad that placed third at the 2015 African U-20 Championship.[12] He featured in 2 matches during the tournament.[4]