Ebrima Darboe
Gambian footballer (born 2001)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ebrima Darboe (born 6 June 2001) is a Gambian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Italian Serie B club Bari. He also plays for the Gambia national team.[2]
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Darboe with Gambia at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 6 June 2001 | ||
| Place of birth | Bakoteh, The Gambia | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Bari | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2016–2017 | Young Rieti | ||
| 2017–2021 | Roma | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021–2025 | Roma | 6 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | → LASK (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2024 | → Sampdoria (loan) | 14 | (2) |
| 2024–2025 | → Frosinone (loan) | 26 | (2) |
| 2025– | Bari | 6 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2021– | Gambia | 15 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 2 March 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 19 January 2024 | |||
Early life
Ebrima Darboe was born in Bakoteh, a district of Serekunda in The Gambia.[3][4][5] He left his birth country aged 14, alone, arriving in Libya,[4][6] before sailing to Sicily, Italy, where he arrived as a refugee after a six-month journey.[7][8]
In Italy, Darboe was taken in charge by the SPRAR – a service from the Italian ministry of the Interior – as an unaccompanied underage migrant and ended in Rieti, where he started playing with amateur club Young Rieti.[7][9]
Club career
Darboe joined Italian club Roma in summer 2017, making his primavera debut for the youth team in January 2019.[7][10][11] Darboe signed his first professional contract with Roma the following July, having just turned eighteen.[4][7][11] He first featured on as an unused substitute in Roma's 2–1 Serie A home victory against Milan on 27 October 2019.[6][7][11] Darboe scored his first goal for the under-19 side in October 2020,[3] and got an additional brace later that month in the Campionato Primavera.[12][13]
Darboe made his professional debut for the club on 2 May 2021, coming off the bench for the final ten minutes of Roma's 2–0 defeat against Sampdoria.[14] On 6 May, Darboe made his UEFA Europa League debut against Manchester United, in the second leg of the semi-finals.[15] Darboe played in the Derby della Capitale against rivals Lazio on 15 May, becoming the first player born in the 2000s to do so.[16]
On 7 July 2023, Darboe was loaned to Austrian Bundesliga club LASK for the 2023–24 season.[17] On 1 February 2024, this loan was cut short, and Darboe was then loaned to Serie B club Sampdoria.[18]
On 1 September 2025, Darboe signed a three-year contract with Serie B club Bari.[19]
International career
On 26 October 2020, while still a youth team player for Roma, Darboe received his first senior call-up for the Gambia national team by head coach Tom Saintfiet.[20] He debuted for the Gambia in a 2–0 friendly win over Niger on 6 June 2021.[21]
Darboe was selected to the Gambia squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, his national team's first continental tournament, where they made a sensational quarter-final.[22][23]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 23 August 2024[2]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Roma | 2020–21 | Serie A | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
| 2021–22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| Total | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |||
| LASK (loan) | 2023–24 | Austrian Bundesliga | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| Sampdoria (loan) | 2023–24 | Serie B | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 33 | 2 | |||
- Includes Austrian Cup
- Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
- Appearance(s) in UEFA Conference League
International
- As of match played 19 January 2024.[24]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gambia | 2021 | 6 | 0 |
| 2022 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 0 | |
