Swedish Allsvenskan (premier league) side Djurgarden IF yesterday rejected a one million Euro offer for Gambia skipper Omar Colley.
The former Banjul Wallidan prodigy has persistently been linked with a move away from the Tele2 Arena in the last twelve months and even though the identity of the clubs involved in the rejected bid hasn’t been disclosed, Swedish publication, FotbollDirekt said the duo is playing in the German top flight.
“Yes, there is great interest in Omar Colley. There have been bids which we declined,” Djurgarden’s Sporting Director Bosse Andersson told fan gathering, Forum 1891 last week.
Colley, who spent most of his football training with Wallidan where he graduated to the first team, also played for Real de Banjul in The Gambia before joining Kupio in 2013. He moved to Sweden from the Finnish club in January 2015 and has been a mainstay in their defence in the last 18 months.
The 23-year-old played 27 of the 30 games for Djurgarden last season and has so far started each of the 13 matches this year, scoring two goals. His performances have attracted interest from clubs outside Scandinavia including Espanyol of Spain as well as Hertha Berlin and Monaco in Germany and France respectively.
The Stockholm club has so far refused all advances for their Gambian import even though the Lamin native seems more and more likely to move on before the end of the summer transfer window.
FotbollDirekt sources added that Djurgarden seems resigned to losing out on their price asset but not without a fight and has therefore placed a two million Euro price tag on him.
Omar Colley has a contract with Djurgarden until the end of the 2017 season but should he move on before the expiry of that date and on the two million Euro offer quoted, his former Gambian clubs would be in for a big training compensation pay day as per FIFA transfer rules for players under the age of 23.
by Baboucarr Camara
