Blackburn Rovers chasing Tijan Jaiteh

English Premier League side, Blackburn Rovers, appear to be closing in on a move for Gambia and SK Brann teenage midfielder Tijan Jaiteh, Observer Sports can reveal.

The highly-rated 19-year-old utility player recently impressed Blackburn Rovers scouts with his dazzling display during Gambia’s 1-1 draw with Senegal in the 2010 World Cup and Nations Cup qualifiers match last month.

SK Brann have confirmed Rovers offer for Tijan to go for a trial in England, adding  that they are presently considering the offer. "We have received a fax from Blackburn that they want Tijan to come for a trial," Brann sports director Roald Bruun-Hanssen told Bergens Tidende.

"We have discussed it and with his advisor Per-Ove Ludvigsen. We will think some, but we will decide soon whether we let Tijan travel."
Tijan Jaiteh was recently voted Young Player of the Year for his Norwegian club for the second year running.

The former Gambia Ports Authority FC prodigy was also named man-of-the-match after Brann SK closed out their season with a 1-0 home win over Valarenga earlier this month. Jaiteh was very instrumental in the Gambian side that held Senegal to a 1-1 historic draw in Dakar last month resulting in the elimination of the 2002 World Cup quarter-finalists from the 2010 World and African Nations Cup finals.

A special player to the Gambian leader, Dr Alhaji Yahya Jammeh, Tijan Jaiteh will be the second Gambian to head for the English Premier League this season, if  successful. The first being  Hawks’ Omar Koroma who recently signed a two-year contract with Portsmouth before being loaned out to Championship side, Norwich City, to gain a first team experience.