Scorpion Musa Barrow capped off a perfect week by winning the Gambian Foreign Based Athlete of the Year Award at the 11th National Sports Award and Gala held over the weekend.
He was recognised by the Sports Journalist Association of The Gambia (SJAG) for his blistering season with Bologna in Italy’s Serie A as well as helping Gambia secure a maiden AFCON appearance with crucial performances and goals during the qualifiers.
He signed on loan from Atalanta in January of 2020 with an obligation to buy and after a season and a half, where he turned out to be one of the first names on Sinisa Mihajlovic’s team sheet, the Renato Dall’Ara Stadium outfit triggered the mandatory clause to sign the former Hawks protégé on a permanent deal for the next four years; a contract that will run until June of 2025 in a deal reported to be worth around €19 million.
One of Barrow’s most important goals for the Scorpions during the qualifiers was the second against Gabon in a 2-1 for Tom Saintfiet’s charges and also featured in 38 matches for Bologna in all competitions, scoring eight goals as The Petroniani finished 10th on the 20-team table. He made 56 appearances in total for the club, since his move, and scored 17 times.
Born in Kanifing, in November of 1998, “Laka” Barrow, 21, left boyhood club Hawks for Atalanta’s youth team in 2016 and on his debut in the Privemera, he scored two goals from midfield and ended up with 19 in 15 appearances from the youth ranks which earned him a permanent move to the first team in 2018.
He made both his Coppa Italia and Serie A debuts in January and February of that year before making his first start in a goalless stalemate with Inter Milan in April and on 19th September, 2019, he debuted as the youngest Gambian in the UEFA Champions League against Dinamo Zagreb.