After all, the Gambian winger was a Premier League player who’d featured relatively often for the Swans during the first-half of the season, but the signing of Dutch international Luciano Narsingh from PSV in January meant Swansea could afford to loan Barrow out.
Barrow, who was the first Gambian to ever play in the Premier League, joined Swansea in the summer of 2014/15 and made 17 appearances in total that year, with the vast majority of those from the bench
It was a similar story the following season, with the winger being used as an impact substitute rather than a starter as a result of his pace and directness.
The 2016/17 season was Barrow’s most fruitful in terms of Premier League appearances. He started 12 league games before January, but new manager Paul Clement deemed him surplus to requirements. Given the fact he was a regular Premier League starter, it seemed that Leeds had picked up a great January signing.
Modou Barrow’s time at Leeds United
The move to Elland Road saw Barrow reunited with former Swans boss Garry Monk, who brought him to south Wales in 2014.
Despite the hype surrounding Barrow’s signing, it proved to be an unsuccessful loan spell in Yorkshire. The winger made just five appearances for the club, all from the bench, as Leeds fell just short of making the Championship play-offs.
The Gambian international made his debut away to Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield, before making further appearances from the bench against Bristol City, Ipswich, Fulham and Brentford.
In total, he played just 149 minutes of Championship football, making it an unproductive loan spell for both clubs and Barrow himself.
He wasn’t even included in Leeds’ squad for the last last five games of the season, which saw them fail to win a single game and ultimately led to the club missing out on the play-offs by just five points.
Barrow’s loan spell at Elland Road isn’t fondly remembered, and it’s a time in his career that the Gambian will want to forget. You could say he wasn’t given a fair chance, but he didn’t do enough in his substitute appearances to warrant further minutes.
Modou Barrow’s career since his loan spell at Leeds
Barrow left Swansea on a permanent basis that summer and made the move to Reading. His spell in Berkshire was more fruitful than his spell at Swansea, and he registered 14 goals and 12 assists during 84 appearances between 2017 and 2019.
He left the Royals in the summer of 2019, joining Turkish side Denizlispor on loan, before leaving on a permanent basis the following summer.
It’s fair to say Barrow has enjoyed a slightly nomadic career since leaving the English game. A spell in South Korea with Jeonbuck Hyundai Motors was the winger’s first port of call, before signing for Al-Ahli in the Saudi Premier League in 2023.
Now 31, Barrow is on loan in the Turkish Süper Lig with Sivasspor, where he has recorded one goal in ten league games.
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