By Arfang M.S. Camara
Gambian international striker Saikou Janneh stated that he is hungry for more goals and that he wants to help his new side Shrewsbury Town.
Striker Janneh was speaking after completing his loan move from second tier English side Bristol City to Shrewsbury Town (third tier English team) on New Year’s Day (Saturday 1 January 2022).
The 21-year-old striker has been with the Robins’ (Bristol) under-23s side for the majority of this season.
He has featured for the first team on six occasions and made his debut in the 1-1 draw away at Sheffield Wednesday in April of last year.
Janneh has also opened his goal scoring account for the Sky Bet Championship side, having scored two goals and his penalty in City’s EFL Cup defeat away at Sky Bet League Two leaders Forest Green Rovers back in August 2021.
The Gunjur-born player joined the English second division side Bristol City in 2018 from non-league side Clevedon Town and went straight into their under-23s for pre-season.
He went out on loan to then National League South side Torquay United in September of the same year and netted 18 goals for the eventual champions.
After one season in the National League with the Gulls, he returned to Bristol in June 2020.
Janneh’s next taste of first-team football came in Sky Bet League Two with Newport County last season.
He joined the Exiles for the first half of the campaign and made 12 appearances across all competitions – scoring twice – before injury cut his time at Rodney Parade short.
“It feels good to be here and I can’t wait to start, I just want to play as much as I can. I’m hungry for more goals and I want to help the team. I’m a centre-forward with pace and power that can run in behind and get goals,” Saikou Janneh further said in an interview.
According to him, his new team Shrewsbury’s training ground is good and the pitch is nice as well, noting that he trained on it and spent most of the time just running to try and get fitness back up.
Speaking on the signing, Shrewsbury manager Steve Cotterill said: “It’s been there in the background for a while, he’s a young boy so I wouldn’t expect too much too soon.”
He added that Saikou Janneh brings great pace to the forward line in Shrewsbury, adding that they are looking forward to working with him.
“We wish him all the best with us. He’s been in with the players training today and he’s done some fitness work with Andy Johnson which I’m sure was a tough session based on what I told Andy to give him,” said manager Steve Cotterill.