Gambian international Musa Juwara has signed for Italian Serie B side FC Crotone on a season long loan with the option of a permanent deal at the end of the 2021/22 season.
Crotone, who played the last season in the Italian top flight were relegated to the second division having finished the campaign in 19, announced the deal on its official website today.
Juwara, 19, made his debut for the Scorpions in last year’s 1-0 defeat of Benin in a training camp in Algerve, Portugal at the age of 18. Born in Tujereng in December 26, 2001, the left-footed forward traveled to Italy through the perilous journey of the Mediterranean and was discovered by an amateur side Virtus Avigliano who horned his skills and eventually sold him to Chievo Verona in the summer of 2017.
He made his Serie A debut with Verona the following year and in the summer of 2019, he moved on a permanent deal to Bologna and became a star attraction with a match winning performance by scoring the equaliser and securing the sending-off of Alessandro Bastoni in a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Inter Milan at the San Siro.
In search of regular playing time, Sinisa Mihajlovic allowed him to move on loan to Portuguese top flight side Boavista in the first half of last season but returned to Bologna in the winter. However, he again struggled for game time. With the youngster desirous of securing a place in Tom Saintfiet’s squad for the Scorpions’ maiden appearance at the AFCON in Cameroon 2021, as well as aiding his development, he has decided to drop a level below.
“Juwara is part of The Gambia national team with which he made his debut at the age of 18 and which, for the first time in its history, will take part in the African Cup. [A] very fast player and skillful in dribbling with the run, Musa can play in both flanks and is also gifted with a powerful shot,” Crotone said on its website as they welcome the Gambian into their rank.
Saintfiet, who advised Juwara in favor of the move, is delighted that the youngster has decided to join a team where he has better chances of playing regularly. Speaking in an interview with www.gambiaff.org, the Belgian described Crotone as a very ambitious club.
“I think it’s good for a player like Musa Juwara to go to Crotone. Crotone is a club which just relegated from Serie A to Serie B so still a very good level with a lot of ambition and probably he has more opportunities to play,” Saintfiet said.
“I’m very happy that he goes to Crotone [and] I hope he gets more playing time. A player at his age needs to play frequently to get better and it’s a good league; it’s a strong team and an ambitious team so it is good for his development.”