It looks like Bakery Jatta could be back in contention for a Scorpion call-up following a visit from the Gambian coach Tom Saintfeit to his German club Hamburg SV.
The 21-year-old midfielder, who is yet to feature for the Scorpions since he burst onto the German football scene in 2016, could even be in the squad to face Gabon over two legs next month, March 27th and 31st, in the 2021 African Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Previous attempts to lure Bakery to the Gambia national squad all ended in futility, but it looks like the star player may now respond to Saintfeit’s invitation. The Belgian coach expressed his disappointment the last time, when Jatta turned down his invitation, although he told an interview with the BBC that as much as he was disappointed, at the same he understood the player’s reason for turning down the request as he was at the time facing serious scrutiny over allegations he had falsified his identity, for which he was under investigation by the German FA (DVB). But now that he has been cleared of those allegations, joining the Scorpions should not be a problem.
His addition to the current team will be a real coup for Saintfeit as he has been in great form at Hamburg SV in the 2 Bundesliga division (German second Division), where he scored his fourth goal of the season a fortnight ago against FC Nuremburg, one of the teams that protested about his real identity and he will bring some needed quality and strength in depth to the squad.
