Thierno Ballo heads back to London

At the end of August 2021, ÖFB U21 player Thierno Ballo joined SK Rapid on loan from Chelsea. The attacking player, who turned 20 in January, featured in 14 games for Rapid, playing the full 90 minutes only once. In that game, our cup win over SKU Amstetten, Ballo managed to get his sole scorer point in Green & White, setting up the first goal for Ercan Kara.

 His loan spell has now come to an end ahead of the planned full-season deal. Managing Director of Sport Zoran Barišić expalined why: “For Thierno Ballo it’s extremely important that, at this stage of his development, he’s able to get as much playing time as possible, at the highest possible level. Not least due to the unexpected return of Yusuf Demir, as well as other good options that we have in our squad, it was unlikely that we would be able to offer him that chance in the coming months. For that reason we came to the conclusion that it would be best for Ballo to go back to London. I’d like to thank him for his efforts in the last few months, and on behalf of SK Rapid I wish him all the best for his career ahead, which given his potential, can no doubt be a very successful one.”

 The loan agreement with Chelsea was therefore terminated early by mutual consent. Initially the arrangement would have come to an end after the final game of the current season.

Fotos: Red Ring Shots