OAKLAND, Calif. – Oakland Roots SC announced on Tuesday the club had signed defender Baboucarr Njie to a new contract for the 2024 USL Championship season. The transaction is pending league and federation approval.

Njie made seven appearances after joining Roots SC in July last season, logging 266 minutes as recovered from injury to become part of the lineup. The 28-year-old had a passing accuracy rate of 78.1 percent for Oakland, while winning 4 of 4 tackles and making three interceptions and 26 recoveries.

“We were highly impressed with Baboucarr's performance both in training and on the field throughout 2023,” said Oakland Head Coach Noah Delgado. “We eagerly anticipate the positive influence he can bring to Oakland with a full preseason in our environment and under our coaching staff.”

Hailing from The Gambia, Njie began his professional career with Atlanta United 2 in the USL Championship during the abbreviated 2020 campaign. He subsequently joined Rio Grande Valley FC the following year, and recorded two goals and one assist in 28 appearances for the Toros as they reached the 2021 USL Championship Playoffs before playing a key role in the side’s upset of top seed Phoenix Rising FC in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

Njie made the move to Phoenix the following season and made 42 appearances for the side before his move to Oakland. He has made 88 appearances overall in the USL Championship across the regular season and playoffs.

Analysis

At first glance Phoenix Rising FC would have appeared to get the upper hand in the pair of transactions that brought Dariusz Formella to the reigning Championship title holders, but Baboucarr Njie showed enough in his seven appearances for Oakland to offer optimism as to what’s to come in 2024.

The Gambian full back provides speed and defensive quality and while he only logged seven appearances for his new club that came with a +0.75 Goals Added mark according to American Soccer Analysis that should grow substantially. Playing on the left side, it’s a stretch to say he’ll have the same influence as former Roots SC full back Edgardo Rito, but similar playing characteristics are there for this to be a plus position for Oakland.