Former junior national footballer Abiola Grant has signed a professional contract with Croatian division two club NK Solin.
Grant, a 20-year-old forward has several caps as a junior footballer for Barbados, representing the island at the Under-15, Under-17 and Under-20 levels. He made two appearances for the Under-17 team in the 2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship and has netted seven times for Barbados during his youth international career.
Grant said “This is a great feeling for me to sign another contract. The environment is great with the players, coaches, president and sports director and they have really made me feel at home and this helped me to make my decision very easy. This is a very big move for me and I am grateful.
“It is time to settle myself and try to play much harder and make the first team and get a lot of minutes. My main goal right now is to get into the first eleven. I want to seal my position in the squad.”
BFA technical director Emmerson Boyce stated: “It is fantastic news that Abiola has secured a new contract. It shows that home grown players can have an opportunity and pathway from Barbados given the right chances. It is up to us now as a federation and a country to raise the standards of Barbados football to help create more pathways for these players. Abiola is leading the way; this is great for his career and obviously I’m really happy for him to get his next move to Croatia and I wish him all the best.”
Grant came up through the ranks of Pro Shottas Football Club and locally started his senior career with Premier League team Empire Club in 2017.
In February 2021, Grant went on a two-week trial with Kazincbarcikai SC in the Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság II and signed for the club for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. After numerous trials and offers from other clubs in Hungary, he joined FK Radnički Sremska Mitrovica in the Serbian first league.
Last January, Grant joined Brežice 1919 of the Slovenian Second League and featured in a training match against NK Rudar Velenje. (PR)
