By Sulayman Bah
A raw talent four years ago, Lamin Jallow is today one of the most sought-after young players in Italian football.
The Gambian striker is the exact opposite of club side Censena’s fading importance. One of the twenty (20) elite clubs in the highest echelon of the European country’s top flight forty-eight months ago, Censa today bears the resemblance of an outfit scampering in frenzy for survival in Italy’s second division. Funding issues explains the current dungeon the team is hurled in.
If against all odds, they escape clutches of demotion -which sounds frighteningly near with two points separating them with the bottom-placed outfits – then the Gambian winger will be to thank for.
Jallow has notched in a combined eleven (11) league goals –none of them being from the spot-kick. It makes him Censena’s highest scorer. Subtract the 23-year-old’s goal-feat and Censena will sure plummet down on the championship basement.
He came off the bench in their previous fixture which wrapped up in a 3-2 defeat against Empoli.
But of particular worry for Cesena will be trying to avoid demotion as they’re understandably resigned to losing their key player who’s set to depart when the season ends. He is currently there on loan from parent club Chievo Verona of the Serie A. Interest in the Gambia international is at fever pitch with a blizzard of teams in a tug-of-war to secure his service.
Lamin’s loan move to Cesena is tailed-made for his progression after seeing first-team football minutes difficult to attain at Chievo. Before being whisked to northern Italy to begin a fresh start to life with Cesena, dubbed the Seahorses, Verona made sure he’s tied down to an improved two-year contract which runs down June 2020. The extended deal signifies two things: Chievo might be struggling in the top flight and opted to re-sign the Scorpion to either ensure he returns at end of his loan spell a finished product and ready to claim a place in the first team or rake in huge windfall by selling him to the highest bidder. 
The latter theory looks more feasible weighing the considerable attention he’s courting this moment. Among his admirers are serial Serie A winners Juventus. The Old Lady are the moneybags of the league and are, by virtue of relevance, streets apart compare to rest of the other nineteen (19) competing teams. Their Ubiquitous scouts have been asked to keep a constant eye on Jallow’s progress to make signing him an easy task in case they feel the African is worth venture. That, should it happen, would be a moment of tremendous delight as Jallow would have then become the first man from his West African country to enter Juventus’ books. But there would still be a major hiccup standing his path –playing time issues. Juve have in their ranks established super stars who undoubtedly would be ahead of him in the pecking order which could only mean going out on loan again.
This drawback gives Genoa –the latest of Lamin’s long list of admirers –a faint chance to prise away the Gambian. Genoa are a more appealing case with playing time a guaranteed factor for the 23-year-old should he effect a switch. This however will hinge on whether they’re willing to part with a figure in excess of €1.4m to meet Chievo’s reported current transfer fee valuation for the forward. Latest transfer gossips intimate a deal remains very close but that is dependent on Sassulo, Sampdoria and Udinese reported interest in the former Bakau United goal-getter. All trio clubs are touted to have a tinge of willingness to sanction a deal for the wing-wizard when he becomes available on the transfer market.
