By Sulayman Bah
Italian club Sampdoria has made their intentions to raid Belgian 
club Genk for Omar Colley known by making a formal bidding for the Gambia international.
The offer is said to be in the region of €5m, €4m short of the Belgian outfit’s €9m solid valuation of the left-sided defender.
The Serie A club wants replacement for defender Milan Skriniar who switched to rivals Inter Milan in a €7m fee and views Colley something close to a like-for-like replacement for the Slovakian.
The glamour of playing in the Serie A might be tempting bait in luring Omar but Sampdoria must fight off overtures from equally well-established rival clubs like French side Lille and Turkish Super Lig giants Fenerbache and Besiktas.
Lille and Fenerbache were reported to have held preliminary talks with Omar’s representatives and Genk coach Albert Stuivenberg over the defender’s availability.
But Sampdoria now seems to have jumped in front of queue and have taken the initiative to not only meet with Genk but slapped a €5m initial offer on the club chairman’s desk who’s believed to be holding out for more.
Belgian side Genk won’t mind keeping their player for a season more but won’t also lose sleep, if there need be, to cash in on Colley when the price is right.
