The best Jose Mourinho sides tend to have one thing in common beyond, of course, an insatiable will to win – a physical yet technically gifted defensive central midfielder capable of breaking up opposition attacks before laying the foundations for rapid-fire counters.
With that in mind, you’d have been forgiven for assuming Ebrima Darboe would have a big part to play at Mourinho’s Roma.
After breaking into the Giallorossi XI during the final few weeks of the Paulo Fonseca era, a 20-year-old whizzkid who sailed straight off a migrant boat and into Serie A emerged as one of the brightest young talents in Italian football, an all-round, all-action midfield general in the making.
So much so, Premier League giants Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur both came calling in May, expressing interest in a then 19-year-old starlet who had just four top-flight appearances under his belt (Corriere dello Sport).
Talk about an immediate impact.
Mourinho overlooking Ebrima Darboe gives Spurs and Arsenal a chance
But unfortunately for Darboe, the narrative around him has changed since Mourinho swaggered through the doors of the Stadio Olimpico like a greying rock star in search of one last show.
Darboe hasn’t played a single minute of football – in Serie A or the Europa League – under the former Spurs boss.
And with Jordan Veretout, Bryan Cristante, Amadou Diawara, Nicolo Zaniolo and the exceptional Lorenzo Pellegrini all ahead of him in the pecking order, that situation seems unlikely to change any time soon.
Even Edoardo Bove, 13 months Darboe’s junior, appears to have leapfrogged the twice-capped Gambia international in recent weeks.
Could Tottenham take full advantage as Mourinho kicks another wide-eyed youngster to the kerb, offering Darboe the sort of first-team opportunities that appear out of reach at Roma?
Given Spurs have already snapped up one up-and-coming enforcer, paying £13 million for Pape Matar Sarr, that ship may have sailed already, leaving Darboe all at sea without a paddle.
Arsenal have signed a promising young midfielder of a similar ilk too – the gifted Albert Sambi Lokonga.
Darboe, then, has little choice but to put his head down and work hard – an attribute Mourinho values above all others.
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