Reading, St Étienne and two other clubs interested in Sawaneh

Ibou Sawaneh heading to the exit door?

Gambia international striker Ibou Sawaneh is currently the country’s most talked about player in the transfer market as four clubs have shown interest in the services of the OH Leuven forward.

Relegated English Premier League club Reading, French Ligue 1 side AS Saint-Étienne, Dutch Eredivisie club FC Utrecht and Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 side Club Africain are all interested in the 5ft 10in striker.

Sawaneh earlier on courted interest from Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who viewed the Gambian as a potential replacement for André Schürrle who left for Chelsea, but the German Bundesliga side sudden cold approach over a swoop for the former Lech Poznań forward seems to cool the flames of any prospective deal thus opening the door for these four clubs.

The 26-year-old attacker was supposed to leave Leuven last week to join Tunisian side Club Africain after both clubs reached an agreement over the transfer of the Gambian striker on a two year contract with an option to extend, but Sawaneh spurned that offer saying he is not interested in a big-money move.

“I need a new sporting challenge. It must be primarily a sporting challenge; money is not the most important. Otherwise I have accepted the offer from Tunisia,” Sawaneh said of the Club Africain interest.

Sawaneh, a close friend to Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, does not wish to fallout with coach Ronny Van Geneugden by handing in a transfer request but reckons it is time to move to next stage of his career and longs for a new league challenge.

“I am ambitious and it is time to put a step forward. I’m more mature now. I have been playing in Belgium for six seasons and I know the competition through and through,” he said.

He added: “The Premier League seems like a fun competition for skilled dribbling strikers. Playing in England with Reading also seems to be a challenge [but] we’ll see.

“When I leave, I want Leuven [to] benefit. So I’m waiting for a good offer. If that does not come, I will respect my contract without complaining. But I hope for a quick solution.”

The Gambia international, who joined Leuven from RAEC Mons last year by signing a three-year-contract with an option to extend from parent club KV Kortrijk, scored 19 goals in 32 appearances in his first season with the Leuven-based club and was nominated for the Ebony Golden Shoe, an award given to the best player in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League with African roots.

He began his career with Polish Ekstraklasa [top-tier] side Lech Poznań in 2004, spending two seasons at the club before moving to K.S.K. Beveren in Belgium where he notched in 23 goals in 39 appearances during his two-year stint at the East Flanders-based club.

He later moved to West Flanders where he joined K.V. Kortrijk in 2008. During his time at the club, he was sent on-loan to KV Mechelen and RAEC Mons [who had an option to make the loan permanent].

Ibou Sawaneh is currently Gambia’s most expensive player in the transfer market as he is valued at €1,700,000 [Euros] and if he is to move away from Leuven, then the Belgian club must have to do business before the European transfer market window slams shut this week.