Sene-sational journey that's carved Kaly's path to Boro

FROM the streets of Senegal to Middlesbrough, with Juventus and Switzerland in between - Kaly Sene's journey has already been quite the story.

- By CRAIG JOHNS [e-mail] @craig_johns

To hear it without context you'd be forgiven for questioning if it was the CV of a veteran preparing to retire. Instead, Sene is just 24 and, having joined Boro this summer from Lausanne-Sport, is just getting started.

While still raw and adapting at his new club, Sene has already had some useful moments in a Boro shirt and, with two goals so far, he’s joint-top of the club's scoring charts. While all new signings arriving from leagues outside of England usually need time, Sene’s experiences perhaps make it no surprise that he’s been able to have more of an impact than others.

“I have played for many teams in Switzerland, and I also played in Italy for Juventus too,’ he reflected. “I think everything that has happened so far has been good for me because I have taken a lot of experiences from it. I feel like I have good experience now.

“I have played with lots of different players and also had to learn a lot of different languages - I feel like I have done a lot in these few years. I am very happy with the journey I have been on, and now I am here, I am hoping to continue on that journey.’

Sene’s journey is perhaps not a conventional one. Discovered playing street football in his native Senegal, he admits he’s never been a big fan of actually watching football.

He admires elite players like Lionel Messi, but he'd struggle to name a player he grew up watching and wanting to emulate. Instead, his football journey was about realising his talent and being self-determined to make the most of it. And there’s been plenty of sacrifice along the way.

“I was in an academy in Senegal, run by an old player, Salif Diao, from Liverpool. I was there for three years. It started because I was playing street football with my friends and people were saying to my father, ‘Your son is very talented? I did three years there. It is really important.