Djurgården signs Amadou Jawo on loan

Amadou Jawo joins Djurgården IF

Gambian striker Amadou Jawo has joined Swedish Allsvenskan [top-tier] club Djurgården IF on loan until the end of the season from IF Elfsborg, this blog can report.

The 28-year-old striker was one of Elfsborg’s most expensive players in the club’s history after joining from Gävle-based side Gefle IF in 2009 but he has since failed to grab himself a regular place at the Borås-based outfit scooping 14 appearances last season and scoring twice.

And in a bid to secure more playing time this season, the Gambian decided to join Djurgården after declaring at the end of the 2012 season that he would not accept being a bench player for another year at Elfsborg.

“It feels great. I am local [of Stockholm] and I have been following Djurgården in both football and hockey since I was ten years old. It means a lot to finally get the chance to be involved [with the sports club] and contribute,” Jawo told the club’s official website shortly after putting pen to paper.

“I had no particular thoughts on being on loan. But then came an inquiry from Djurgården and then I felt that this would probably be the best for me,” he added.

Djurgården manager Magnus Pehrsson, who has been a long time admirer of the Gambian-born striker, was happy with his acquisition after several attempts.

“Amadou Jawo is a player who we know very well. It is an offensive reinforcement to be able to play in front of the number nine position and hopefully contribute a depth game, but also be in place in the box and make it ‘easy’ targets. I think he can fit well with the surroundings,” Pehrsson told the club’s official website.

Jawo travelled to Sweden at the age of five and after settling down in a village in the Vallentuna urban area of Täby kyrkby, he joined the local club IK Frej. When he was sixteen, he made his first team debut for Vallentuna BK in Division 1 and at the end of the 2007 Division 1 season, he had trials with Djurgården where he played two games with them but ended up being overlooked.

He impressed Gefle manager Per Olsson in his second trial match with Djurgården which prompted Olsson to snap him up. After two successful seasons with Gefle, he was sold to IF Elfsborg in what was one of the most lucrative deals in the history of the club.

Amadou, brother to Gambia international defender Omar Jawo, has played 89 games in the Swedish top flight. He becomes the fourth Gambian to join the Stockholm side after goalkeeper Pa Dembo Touray, Kebba Ceesay and Aziz Corr Nyang.

Info on Djurgården IF Fotboll

Djurgårdens IF commonly known as Djurgården football team is a department of Swedish sports club Djurgårdens IF based at the Olympic Stadium, located in the Östermalm district of Stockholm City Centre.

Later in the 2013 year, the club will relocate to Tele2 Arena in Johanneshov. Formed in 1891, the club has 11 national championship titles and 4 national cup titles. Djurgården has won their Swedish championships during three eras.

The first one occurred during the 1910s when the club won four championships, the second during the 1950s and 1960s with the same amount of championships. The latest era occurred in the first half of the 00s: they finished second in 2001, won Allsvenskan and the cup – Svenska Cupen – in 2002, Allsvenskan in 2003, and Svenska Cupen in 2004, before winning Allsvenskan for a third time in 2005.

They currently play in the top Swedish tier, Allsvenskan. The club is affiliated to the Stockholms Fotbollförbund [one of the 24 district organisations of the Swedish Football Association that administers lower tier football in Stockholm County.