Kalifa Kujabi
Personal information
Date of birth (2000-05-03) 3 May 2000
Place of birth Abuko, The Gambia[1]
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Torres
(on loan from Frosinone)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2021 Muravera 24 (2)
2021–2022 Torres 30 (3)
2023– Frosinone 2 (0)
2023– → Torres (loan) 11 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 November 2023

Kalifa Kujabi (born 3 May 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie C Group B club Torres, on loan from Frosinone. Born in The Gambia, he also holds Italian citizenship.

Club career

Kujabi left his native The Gambia as a child to flee his country, eventually setting foot in Italy in 2017 and joining a Palermo-based amateur team, Calcio Sicilia,[2] where he was noted by a scout representing Eccellenza Sardinia club Muravera, who eventually signed him.[2]

After winning promotion to Serie D with Muravera and playing two seasons in the Italian amateur top flight, in 2021 he moved to fellow fourth-tier club Torres, being an indisputed regular throughout the 2021–22 club campaign.[3] He was subsequently spotted by a number of professional clubs, including Empoli, Cagliari and Torino before Frosinone eventually agreed on a deal with him.[4][5]

His signing was however formally confirmed only on 30 March 2023, after he earned Italian citizenship through marriage, due to Italian transfer constraints regarding non-EU players and a long delay caused by bureaucratic issues, including an employee mistakenly spelling his first name on his citizenship request.[1]

On 20 August 2023, Kujabi officially returned to Torres, joining the Serie C club on loan for the rest of the season.[6]

Personal life

In 2021, Kujabi married an Italian woman from Villaputzu, Sardinia, with whom he has a daughter.[4] In March 2023, he officially became an Italian citizen through marriage.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Dalla Libia al Frosinone Calcio: il gambiano Kujabi giocherà con la squadra laziale" (in Italian). RAI News. 30 March 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Migranti, la favola di Kalifa Kujabi, arrivato dal Gambia su un barcone, a un passo dalla serie A con il Frosinone" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera - Roma. 3 April 2023.
  3. ↑ "Torres, il futuro di Kujabi è in serie B a Frosinone ma da cittadino italiano" (in Italian). Diario Sportivo. 28 June 2022.
  4. 1 2 "The tale of Kujabi: from the barge to the Muravera, the Torres and now it's officially from Frosinone". L'Unione Sarda. 30 March 2023.
  5. ↑ "Kalifa Kujabi, dalla grande stagione con la Torres alla firma col Frosinone" (in Italian). Gianluca Di Marzio.com. 27 June 2022.
  6. ↑ Serreli, Antonio (20 August 2023). "Serie C, il gambiano del Sarrabus Kujabi dal Frosinone alla Torres". L'Unione Sarda (in Italian). Retrieved 25 August 2023.
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