Dembo Saidykhan (born 20 January 2004) is a Gambian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays for

Whitecaps FC 2 Whitecaps FC 2 is a professional association football, soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that serves as the reserve team of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer. History Prior to the MLS Next Pro iteratio ...

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

Club career

Saidykhan began his senior career with

Steve Biko FC Steve Biko Football Club is a football club from Bakau in the West African country of the Gambia, located near the capital of Banjul. They play in the GFA League First Division, the top flight of Gambian football. They won the GFA Cup in 2000. W ...

in the

GFA League First Division The GFA League First Division is the highest division of football in The Gambia. The league was incorporated in 1965. League games usually take place in front of dozens of spectators. 2021–22 season clubs Previous champions Performance By ...

. In August 2023, he agreed to sign with

. He signed with the Whitecaps, despite interest from Scottish club

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

, French club

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, Danish club FC Nordsjaelland, and English club

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. He officially signed his contract for the 2024 season in November 2023, departing Gambia for Canada at that time. He scored his first professional goal on June 23, 2024, scoring the winning goal in a 3-2 victory over Ventura County FC. In December 2024, he re-signed with the team for the 2025 season.

International career

Saidykhan represented the Gambia U20 at the

2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (, ), known as the 2023 U20 AFCON or 2023 AFCON U20 for short and as the 2023 TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, was the 17th edition (24th if editions of the tournament without ...

and

2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth Association football, football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since i ...

, where he helped them reach the Round of 16. In June 2024, he was called up to the

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

senior national team for the first time for

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will decide the 45 teams that will join hosts Canada men's national soccer team, Canada, Mexico national football team, Mexico, and the United States men's national soccer team, United States at the 2026 FIFA ...

matches.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saidykhan, Dembo Living people 2004 births Gambian men's footballers Whitecaps FC 2 players Men's association football defenders The Gambia men's youth international footballers The Gambia men's under-20 international footballers League1 British Columbia players Whitecaps FC Academy players MLS Next Pro players Gambian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Canada