Mohamed Bangura

Mohamed Bangura

Bangura during his third spell at AIK.
Personal information
Date of birth	27 July 1989
Place of birth	Kambia, Sierra Leone
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current team	Dalian Yifang
Number	11
Youth career
0000–2005	FC Kallon
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2010	FC Kallon
2010	→ IFK Värnamo (loan)	13	(12)
2010–2011	AIK	33	(13)
2011–2014	Celtic	11	(0)
2012	→ AIK (loan)	10	(4)
2013	→ IF Elfsborg (loan)	27	(6)
2014	İstanbul BB	8	(0)
2015	AIK	30	(8)
2016–	Dalian Yifang	24	(3)
National team^‡
2010–	Sierra Leone	18	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 October 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10 September 2013

Mohamed Bangura (born 27 July 1989) is a professional footballer from Sierra Leone who plays as a striker and as of 2015 a player for China League One club Dalian Yifang.

Club career

IFK Värnamo

On 19 March 2010, Swedish third tier side IFK Värnamo (coached by the former Sweden midfielder Jonas Thern) announced they had signed Bangura on loan for the forthcoming season.^[1] At the Småland club Bangura made an immediate impact; when half of the season was played, Bangura had scored 12 goals in 13 league games, turning Värnamo into one of the division's top sides.^[2]

AIK

Bangura training in his first spell at AIK.

On 19 July 2010, AIK announced that they had signed Bangura on a 3 ½-year contract tying him to the club until the end of 2013.^[3] It was made clear that AIK was not the only major Swedish side to have shown interest in signing Bangura. Örebro SK, at the time one of the top Allsvenskan teams, were also interested but decided to pass due to Bangura being injured.^[4] AIK, on the other hand, had scouted Bangura thoroughly for a long time and wanted to make a quick deal. On 24 July 2010, Bangura made his Allsvenskan debut for AIK against Malmö FF away by coming in as a substitute in the 74th minute.^[5] On 28 July, Bangura was in the starting eleven in AIK's next fixture, the UEFA Champions League qualifier at home against Rosenborg BK. The game ended with a 0–1 defeat for AIK but Bangura received lots of praise for his performance in the game.^[6] On 8 August 2010, Bangura scored his first two goals in AIK's 2–1 victory over IF Brommapojkarna. Two months after signing for the club, Egyptian side Al Ahly had a 4 million bid to sign Bangura turned down.^[7] At the end of the season, AIK went on to finish in eleventh place and Bangura finished his first half-season at the club with six goals in thirteen appearance.

In the 2011 season, Bangura formed a striking partnership with new signing Teteh Bangura and together, they formed a line of attack in number of games. Then, on 17 April 2011, Bangura scored twice in a match with a 2-2 draw against Elfsborg and when they met again on 31 July 2011, the match proved to be a last partnership with both Banguras, as they moved to a new club. As they formed a partnership, the Banguras scored the combination of twenty-two goals in the league. In the summer transfer window, Bangura attracted interests from clubs around Europe like Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow^[8] and Club Brugge.^[9]

Celtic

On 30 August 2011, Bangura signed a four-year deal with Celtic for a fee of around £2.2million. He is the first Sierra Leonean to play for Celtic.^[10] He was recommended to Celtic by former striker and fan favourite Henrik Larsson.^[11] Bangura made his Celtic debut for Celtic on 10 September. Coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for Anthony Stokes in a 4–0 victory against Motherwell at Celtic Park.^[12] Bangura then made his next appearance against Atlético Madrid in the Europa League group stage, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute.^[13] His first start for the club came on 29 September in a 1–1 draw with Italian side Udinese.^[14] He endured a nightmare start at Celtic after having failed to hit a single first-team goal and has since fallen out of favour as manager Neil Lennon preferred strikers Gary Hooper, Anthony Stokes and Georgios Samaras in the first team.^[15] It went from bad to worse for Bangura when he suffered an knee injury which kept him out for three months despite the fact he did not require surgery, manager Neil Lennon admitted that Bangura had not responded well to treatment and an operation may be required to cure the problem.^[16] After 3 months recuperating, Bangura was once again ruled out for 16 weeks and missed the reminder of the season. Manager Neil Lennon said of the injury: "He had a scan and it revealed he needed surgery. The surgery was a success and he is coming back up today. But he is going to be out for 12–16 weeks. It's unfortunate for him. It was possibly the reason why he hasn't recaptured his form. Maybe it was hampering him a bit."^[17] Bangura soon left Celtic and won't come back until December 2012, returning to AIK Solna.^[18]

Following of the conclusion from his loan spell at Elfsborg, Manager Lennon have since repaired his relationship with Bangura over an incident over six months ago.^[19]

His contract with Celtic was terminated by mutual consent on 31 January 2014.^[20]

Loan to Swedish Clubs

In late of August 2012, he once again joined AIK, this time on loan until the end of 2012.^[18] After the move, Bangura says returning to the club can revive his deadly reputation and believe going back to Sweden is a good boost for his career.^[21]

At the beginning of January 2013, Bangura joined Swedish 2012 champions Elfsborg on a 1-year loan from Celtic, in a new venture for the club's forthcoming Champions League qualification campaign. The estimated cost for Bangura's loan is to be £1 million.^[22] At Elfsborg, Bangura started to improve his goalscoring form, unlike his time at AIK, including a brace in a 6-0 win over Brommapojkarna on 23 May 2013.^[23]

On 31 July 2013, in a buildup to a match against his parent club in the Third qualifying round of the Champions League, Manager Neil Lennon disapproved of the club letting Bangura playing against them after advising him not to play. In response, Manager Bo Johansson, on the other hand, disagrees with Lennon and described his comments “unacceptable and scandalous” and will let him play in both legs.^[24] Joe Ledley made a statement to Bangura, warning him never come back to Celtic if Elfsborg eliminate Celtic from the Champions League and expressed his opinion on Bangura, that "I don’t think it would be the best move for him [Bangura]."^[25] Eventually, Bangura played the match against his parent club and ended up losing 1-0.

Bangura playing in the Turkish League, March 2014.

İstanbul Başakşehir

On 3 February 2014, Bangura joined Turkish second-tier league side İstanbul BB on a two-and-a-half-year deal.^[26]

AIK (third spell)

On 5 December, AIK held a press conference to announce the return of Bangura. Having gone through some unsuccessful recent years in his career, Bangura trained with AIK for a while before he signed a two-year deal with an option for a third year.^[27]

Dalian Yifang

On 22 December 2015, Bangura transferred to China League One side Dalian Yifang.^[28]

International

Bangura made his international debut on 5 September 2010, in a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Egypt which ended in a 1–1 draw.^[29]

Personal

In the Autumn of 2010, Bangura was to become a father for the first time. However, tragedy struck and the child died during birth.^[30]

Career Statistics

As of 13 December 2013^[31]

Club	League	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
AIK	Allsvenskan	2010	12	6	—				4	1	16	6
		2011	19	7	1	0	—				19	7
		Total	31	13	1	0	—		4	1	35	13
Celtic	SPL	2011–12	10	0	0	0	1	0	4	0	15	0
		2012–13	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
		Total	11	0	0	0	1	0	4	0	16	0
AIK (loan)	Allsvenskan	2012	10	4	0	0	0	0	6	1	16	5
		Total	10	4	0	0	0	0	6	1	16	5
Elfsborg (loan)	Allsvenskan	2013	27	6	0	0	0	0	8	1	35	6
		Total	27	6	0	0	0	0	8	1	35	6
Career Total			79	23	1	0	1	0	22	3	101	28

Honours

• Sierra Leone Player of the Year: 2011^[32]

References

3. "AIK Fotboll – AIK värvar Mohamed Bangura". Aikfotboll.se. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
4. Anders Svensson 019-15 54 28 [email protected]. "Bangura valde AIK före ÖSK – Inspark" (in Swedish). www.na.se. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
5. "Matchinformation: Malmö FF – AIK". Svenskfotboll.se. 24 July 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
6. "Nye Bangura var bäst i Gnaget | AIK | Allsvenskan | Sverige | Fotboll | Sportbladet | Aftonbladet". Aftonbladet.se. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
7. "AIK turned down bids for Bangura" [AIK nobbade bud på Bangura] (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. 21 September 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
8. ""Locomotive" is interested striker Sierra Leone" ["Локомотив" интересуется форвардом сборной Сьерра-Леоне] (in Russian). Sports.ru. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
9. "AIK snobs bid for Bangura" [AIK nobbar bud på Bangura] (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. 16 August 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
10. "Old Firm facts". The Scotsman. 18 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
11. "Delight as Mohamed Bangura signs for Celtic". Celtic FC. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
12. "Celtic 4–0 Motherwell". BBC Sport. 10 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
13. "Atlético Madrid 2–0 Celtic". BBC Sport. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
14. "Celtic 1–1 Udinese". BBC Sport. 29 September 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
15. "Celtic striker Mohamed Bangura: I'll prove I'm not a £2m dud". Daily Record. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
16. "Celtic striker Mohamed Bangura may need surgery on knee". BBC Sport. 18 November 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
17. "Celtic striker Mohamed Bangura out for the season". STV Sport. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
18. "Celtic: Mo Bangura sent back to AIK Solna on loan". BBC Sport. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
19. "Neil Lennon forgives Mo Bangura for playing against Celtic during Elfsborg loan deal". Daily Record. 4 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
20. "Transfer News: Celtic and expensive flop Mohamed Bangura have parted company". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
21. "Bangura pleased by AIK loan move". BBC Sport. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
22. "Swedish champions Elfsborg take a loan of Celtic striker Mo Bangura". Daily Record. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
23. "Bojan Djordjic: Male ashamed" [Bojan Djordjic: Man skäms] (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
24. "Elfsborg fury as Neil Lennon tells the Swedish club: Don't play Mo Bangura in Champions League showdown". Daily Record. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
25. "Celtic ace Joe Ledley warns on-loan Mo Bangura: Don't come back if you knock us out of the Champions League". Daily Record. 30 July 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
26. "Mo Bangura joins Turkish second tier club Istanbul BB". Mohamed Fajah Barrie. BBC Sport. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
27. http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/dinklubb/allsvenskan/aik/article19966131.ah
28. 大连一方续约主帅斯塔勒 瑞超两大锋霸正式加盟 at sports.sohu.com 2015-12-22 Retrieved 2015-12-22
29. "Egypt 1–1 Sierra Leone: Impressive Leone Stars Hold African Champions In Cairo". Goal.com. 5 September 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
30. Foto: Andreas L Eriksson. "Bangura i sorg – spelade inte derbyt – Allsvenskan – Allt om allsvenskan!". Fotboll.expressen.se. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
31. "Mohamed Bangura Bio, Stats, News - Football / Soccer - - ESPN FC". ESPN.
32. Mohamed Fajah Barrie. "Poborsky Bangura named Sierra Leone best player of the year 2011". SierraLeoneFootball.com. Retrieved 23 March 2012.

External links

• Mohamed Bangura at CelticFC.net
• Mohamed Bangura at National-Football-Teams.com
• Mohamed Bangura profile at Soccerway