Bojang admits to being blow away by training facilities
MOMODOU BOJANG admits he turned down interest from Portugal, MLS and Sweden to sign for Hibs after being bowled over by the facilities.
The Gambian striker finally made his debut as a substitute in Sunday’s 4-1 Premier Sports Cup victory over Bonnyrigg Rose following weeks of cutting through red tape.
The 21-year-old, who has also previously had a loan stint in Portugal with Famalicao Under23, joined the Leith side at the start of June on a season-long loan from Rainbow FC in his homeland.
Bojang said: “I had other offers, one from Portugal and another from Sweden. But then I heard about Hibs’ interest through my agent.
“I saw the facilities and I was desperate to come here.
“The facilities at Hibs was a big factor in going to Hibs and I knew if I went to Hibs it would be easy for me to express myself so that’s what I chose to come, also it is a good league.
“As soon as my agent mentioned Hibs I was interested in coming. I also spoke to the manager about the project for the team and the playing style and that was another reason for coming here.”
Bojang admits he was delighted to finally make his first appearance for Johnson’s side after having to be patient in obtaining the relevant paperwork for his work permit.
He added: “I feel happy after making my debut, it was not easy but it was good to play.
“It was difficult waiting for all the documents to come through, it was very hard to get them but it’s all done now.
“I was doing some training in Gambia in the morning and afternoon just to keep myself fit, by myself. It’s difficult to train by yourself.”
After replacing Aiden McGeady in the 73rd minute, Bojang was disappointed not to cap his debut with a goal after having an effort cleared off the line by Josh Grigor. He added: “I came very close to scoring but I was unlucky but I was just happy to play and make my debut.”
Meanwhile, Johnson insists he remains hopeful that Ryan Porteous will sign fresh terms after revealing that a contract offer has been made.
The highly-rated defender has entered the final 12 months
of his deal and is in no rush to commit his future to the Easter Road club.
Porteous was the subject of a failed bid from Millwall in January 2021 and has been linked with other moves south of the border as well as to Belgium and Turkey.
At 23 years of age, Porteous, who has also been called up to several Scotland squads, has already racked up over 120 first team outings for the Leith side.
And Johnson insists he will not give up in his attempts to tie the player down on a longer deal. He said: “Every squad has moving parts to it and Ryan is a great player, we would love to keep him but at the same time it’s his prerogative in terms of that contract offer. At the moment he has not signed it but we’re forever hopeful.”
Johnson, however, insists he is still keen to add two new faces to his squad ahead of the July 30 Premiership opener against St Johnstone.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he added: “I think I would be happy to go in with what we’ve got but ideally I’d like another two more, if it was one and the right position then that would be okay. It’s a really smooth transfer process here, we get the budget from the owner [Ron Gordon], naturally it’s the CEO’s [Ben Kensell] job to control the budget in conjunction with myself and Ian Gordon, head of recruitment.
“All the player ID and the final say comes from me but of course that has to fit in with the financial parameters of the club. There is a lot of good work going on here in terms that the recruitment staff is vast, which is quite unusual for a club this size. We’ve have got a lot of regular information coming in regarding potential options, the availability of players.”