Gokulam Kerala set to sign Philip Adjah as replacement for Saliou Guindo

The 22-year-old was earlier released by Mohammedan SC.

I-League outfit Gokulam Kerala are all set to sign Philip Adjah, Khel Now can confirm. The Ghanaian will be the replacement for Saliou Guindo, who is soon to be released from the Malabarians’ squad due to injury.

“Philip Adjah is close to completing his signing with Gokulam Kerala,” a source close to the developments informed Khel Now. We also understand that Guindo is likely to be ruled out of the 2020-21 season after suffering an injury during pre-season training in Kolkata. The club will be unable to avail of his services for the campaign and thus, they have decided to go for Philip Adjah, who was recently released by another I-League side Mohammedan SC.

The 22-year-old has been plying his trade in India since the 2018-19 season, when he joined Mohammedan for the first time as a relatively unknown forward. He then went on to win the top-scorer award in the Second Division League that season, after scoring 10 goals in as many matches, including a hat-trick against Jamshedpur FC Reserves and a brace against TRAU FC.

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He also netted 21 more times for the Black Panthers in other competitions the same year, before signing with Calcutta Customs on a short-term deal ahead of the 2019-20 season of the Calcutta Football League. Soon after, he moved to NEROCA FC and played in the 2019-20 I-League with them. Real Kashmir and Indian Arrows were the only two sides that were able to stop him from scoring, as he ended the league campaign with nine goals, including a hat-trick against Minerva Punjab.

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The season was then cancelled midway through due to COVID-19 and the title was awarded to Mohun Bagan, who had an unassailable lead at the top of the table. In the summer, Adjah left NEROCA and moved to Bhawanipore FC, with whom he featured in the I-League Qualifiers in October.

Although Bhawanipore failed to qualify for the I-League, Adjah impressed by scoring twice in four matches. He eventually re-signed for his former club Mohammedan, who gained entry to the league by winning the qualifiers.

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But, it now looks like the Ghanaian striker no longer has a place in the Kolkata club’s squad, as they released him just weeks prior to the new season. This has, however, turned into a blessing for Gokulam Kerala, who had been looking for a replacement for the injured Guindo. 

The Malabarians recently reached the quarterfinals of the IFA Shield, where they lost to Mohammedan by a solitary goal. Afterwards, they also played friendlies against Indian Arrows, Trijit Das FA and IFA Shield winners Real Kashmir, winning all of those games.

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