Omar Colley leaves KuPS for Djurgården

Gambia's Omar Colley leaves KuPS for Djurgården

Swedish Allsvenskan giants Djurgården IF have signed Gambia international defender Omar Colley on a pre-contract agreement, this blog can report.

The 21-year-old defender is set to move to Stockholm in January 2015 on a three-year contract once his spell at Finnish Veikkausliiga club Kuopion Palloseura ends.

Colley has spent two seasons at Kuopion Palloseura, where’s he’s been a dependable and key centre-back for the Kuopio club and the Djurgården hierarchy has been aware of the 6ft 3in defender for some time after attending trials with German 2. Bundesliga club Arminia Bielefeld and recently, FC Kaiserslautern.

“We have been working frantically to resolve a transition now immediately but KuPS do not want to release him until after the [end of the Veikkausliiga] season [in October]. I know that he had previously been on trial for Arminia Bielefeld but nothing was able to be agreed and we were quick to step in because he is a very highly valued player by his current Finnish club,” Djurgården sports director Bosse Andersson said of his team’s new acquisition.

In an exclusive interview with this blog, the former Real de Banjul defender said the move to the Allsvenskan is a dream come true for him and believes it’s a step in the right direction for his career.

“It’s a dream for me to take the next step of my career because Sweden is a better league than Finland in terms of the facilities, atmosphere, fans and most clubs participate in European competitions which can be great for me to play against those teams,” Colley told this blog from his current base in Kuopio.

“I came to Finland not to stay but to find a gate to better leagues and now, I’ve crossed the first gate and hopefully I do the same in Sweden but I just want to take it one step at a time. I signed a two-year contract [in Finland] in order to adapt to the league in my first season and then make a move in my second year,” he added.

“HJK Helsinki [of fellow Gambians Demba Savage and Macoumba Kandji] are the best team here but I wasn’t here to compete with them but to develop myself and be ready to take a step and I believe that now is the right time to move on. I’ve been working hard in the past two seasons here [in Finland], that’s why I got some interest from many clubs but I [finally] chose Djurgården as one of the best in Sweden.”

Djurgården has been home to Colley’s compatriots Kebba Ceesay, Aziz Corr Nyang and Pa Dembo Touray, who’s considered a legend at the club, but when quizzed about the legacy left by Ceesay and Touray at the Blåränderna (The Blue Stripes), the former Wallidan player said he isn’t fazed by that and is under no pressure to deliver.

“Well, I respect the fact that they are legends [at the club] but football is all about playing your own part in the game. I have no pressure [to deliver] and I will continue to do my style of play because I didn’t go for trials, they came to see me play [in Finland] and they saw the potentials I got.”

“One thing I know is that Djurgården is a massive club and any player under them should be 100% ready to give your everything so I am ready for that challenge. And I am hoping to be a legend like them as well.”

The club currently boasts of a Gambian in their ranks in striker Amadou Jawo, brother to Scorpion international Omar Jawo, and the versatile defender believes the presence of the 29-year-old forward will be a big boost to him and help him in settling into his new environment.

“I know Amadou but we haven’t met personally but what I’ve heard from one of my teammates who have played with him in the same club, have told me good things about him and I am looking forward to meeting him because all Gambian players abroad, we live as one big family supporting one another.”

Colley has currently made 23 league appearances for Kuopion Palloseura this season, scoring three times.

He will bring great pedigree to the Djurgården back line next season, which was recently boosted with some other new signings.