Just hours before Musa Jatta’s move to Norway looked possible, the Gambian defender was preparing himself to stay at Östers IF and fight for promotion back to the Swedish top flight. Now, he is officially a Tromsø IL player.
The transfer will become Östers IF’s second-record transfer sale in the club’s history, behind only fellow Gambian Youssoupha Sanyang’s move to SK Slavia Praha — with both transfers facilitated by agent Modou Lamin Beyai.
But according to Beyai in an exclusive interview with Footy-Africa, Musa’s move to Tromsø was anything but straightforward.
“As recently as yesterday morning, I spoke with Musa and told him that maybe we should forget about a transfer for now. I told him to put everything aside, focus completely on Östers and help the club fight for promotion back to Allsvenskan.”
Musa accepted the situation — and then football changed everything.
“Four or five hours later, I looked at my phone and had more than ten missed calls. It was about serious interest from Tromsø. Before we knew it, the first offer had gone in, there was a counter-offer, then another offer and eventually the two clubs found an agreement.”
Tromsø’s interest in Musa had actually started earlier in the window following Östers’ game against Lyngby. However, the Norwegian club initially lacked the budget to make a permanent move and were looking at a loan instead.
Musa Jatta attracts strong European interest, Tromsø talks advance
Meanwhile, several other clubs were also interested, including FC København, Ludogorets, Slovan Bratislava, Ferencváros and Hungarian champions Győr — but none of those opportunities materialised.
Once Tromsø returned with serious intent, everything moved at lightning speed.
“After that, it took less than an hour to agree Musa’s personal terms. Everything happened incredibly quickly and before we knew it, we were all on an early morning flight to Tromsø because everything had to be completed before the Norwegian deadline.”
Beyai says the move represents another important milestone in Musa’s journey, from BST Galaxy to his first professional contract in Europe in 2023 and now his fourth professional club in Europe.
“We chose Tromsø because we genuinely believe this is the best step for his career right now. There were bigger-name clubs and different possibilities during the summer, but this was never simply about choosing the biggest club. It was about choosing the right club and the right environment for Musa.”
The 21-year-old has completed a permanent move from Swedish Superettan side Östers IF to Tromsø IL, signing a four-plus-one-year contract with the Norwegian club.
