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| Momodou 'Zico' Ceesay |
Žilina confirmed that the 6ft 5in striker left the club and
joined the Almaty-based side after a two-and-half year stint with them and as
well revealed the transfer fee involved.
“Momodou Ceesay has left the six-time champions since 1st
February and will join Kazakh team, FC Kairat Almaty who have agreed to sign
the Gambian striker,” Žilina said in a statement on their official website.
“Momodou Ceesay made no secret to the fact that he wants to
leave the club after two and a half years of operation in Slovakia and his
request was granted. The amount involved in his transfer is €450,000.”
“The financial demands of the player and the fact that his
contract ended in the summer, MŠK Žilina welcomed this opportunity [to sell
him]. We want to thank Momodou Ceesay for the work [he has done] during his
time at the club and [we] wish him luck in his future career,” the statement
concluded.
The former Wallidan hit-man began his professional career in
2008 when he joined Belgian club K.V.C. Westerlo who spotted his potential and
signed him at the age of 18. He injected power and presence to the former Jupiler
league side but failed to make a lasting impression as in 32 appearances; he
failed to find the back of the net and was released after a two year spell but
he didn’t had to wait long as on hand to secure his signature on a free transfer
was MŠK Žilina who landed him on a half-year contract which was later extended.
He scored in his first Corgoň Liga match on 31 July 2010 and
was key in Žilina’s qualification to the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League, scoring
three goals at the qualifying rounds.
Zico made his senior national team debut against Mexico on
30 May 2010 and in his second international match, he scored his first goal for
Gambia against Namibia on 4 September 2010.
About the
club
FC Kairat Almaty is a Kazakh football club, playing in
Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty.
Like many clubs in the Soviet Union, they went through a number
of name changes in their history.
They were known as Lokomotiv Almaty when founded in 1954 and
later Urozhai Almaty, before settling on Kairat. They were the leading Kazakh
team during the Soviet era, the only ever club to compete at the Soviet Top League
and to win the Soviet First League (second tier of competition) in both 1976
and 1983.
The team achieved an all time high Soviet Super League
finish of 7th in 1986 and altogether spent 24 seasons in the Soviet top
division, a record for a Central Asian team. During the existence of the USSR, Kairat
Almaty was a part of the Voluntary Sports Society Kairat.
The club also has a highly successful Futsal team AFC
Kairat, who has been Kazakh champions in 2003-2008 seasons and reached
semi-finals of UEFA Futsal Cup in three recent seasons.
The club was the first Soviet Team to win a European Cup. It
happened in 1971 in Almaty, when Kairat beat FC Rapid Bucharest with 2-1 and
clinched European Railworks Cup, a defunct club tournament now.
After the Football Union of Kazakhstan joined UEFA, Kairat
played in qualifying rounds of European cups three times, but never progressed
a single round.
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