Gadji Celi Carmel Junior Tallo (born 21 December 1992), known as Junior Tallo or just Tallo, is an Ivorian professional

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 as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Bosnian Premier League The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; sr-Cyrl, Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), officially known as the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for sponsorship purposes, is the top tier football leagu ...

club Igman Konjic.

Club career

Youth career

Chievo

Born in Magbehigouepa,

Ouragahio Ouragahio is a town in south-central Ivory Coast. It is a Sub-prefectures of Ivory Coast, sub-prefecture and Communes of Ivory Coast, commune of Gagnoa Department in Gôh Region, Gôh-Djiboua District. Ivory Coast national football team, Ivory Coa ...

, Fromager region, Tallo is a nephew of former footballer Saint-Joseph Gadji-Celi and son of Mathieu Tallo Gadji. He started his Italian career at Veneto-based club

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

, where he played for the reserves in the Primavera from January 2010 to January 2011. He played the last five reserve games of 2009–10 season as one of the starting forwards. He played once in the playoffs netting a goal in the first leg of the round 16, which Chievo won 2–0 against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. The club lost to eventual champions

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

in the quarter-finals of the playoffs. In April 2010, Tallo received the number 49 shirt in Chievo's first-team squad. Having played in pre-season friendlies for the first team, Tallo only played once in the reserve league for Chievo in 2010–11 season, in October. In November 2010, ''

La Gazzetta dello Sport (; English: "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any type in Italy (in 2018). History and profile was fou ...

'' reported that

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

had agreed a deal with Tallo.

Internazionale

On 13 January 2011, Tallo was exchanged with

Jakub Vojtuš Jakub Vojtuš (born 22 October 1993) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga I club Unirea Slobozia. Club career Born in Spišská Nová Ves, Vojtuš began playing in the local club Spišská Nová Ves, until he w ...

of Inter. Facing competition from

Simone Dell'Agnello Simone Dell'Agnello (born 22 April 1992) is an Italian footballer who plays as a forward for Serie D club Budoni. Club career Youth career Born in Livorno, Tuscany, Dell'Agnello joined Lombard club Inter Milan in 2007. He was the club's third ...

(centre forward),

Denis Alibec Denis Alibec (Dobrujan Tatar: ''Deñíz Alibek''; born 5 January 1991) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga I club FCSB and the Romania national team. Alibec began his senior career at Farul Constanța, and at ...

(forward), Mame Baba Thiam (forward) and

Andrea Lussardi Andrea Lussardi (born 20 January 1992) is a former Italian footballer who played as a winger. Club career Youth career Born in Lodi, Lombardy, Lussardi started his career at Emilia–Romagna club Piacenza. Lussardi got scholarship for his good ...

(wing forward) Tallo did not feature much in the reserves and scored two goals in six league appearances. He did not make any appearances during the playoffs. Inter was eliminated by

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in the second round.

Roma reserves

In August 2011, Tallo was signed by

on a temporary deal. He scored 18 goals in 16 league appearances for the club's reserves in the group stage of the Primavera League to finish as the team's top-scorer, one goal behind Group C topscorer Gonzalo Barreto of

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

. Across the 3 Primavera league groups Tallo ranked as joint fifth along with Mauro Bollino from the same group. The reserves qualified for the quarter-finals of the league playoffs directly as Group C winner. They were eliminated by Lazio in the semi-finals and Tallo did not score in the 2 appearances. The Roma reserves also won the 2011–12

Coppa Italia Primavera The Coppa Italia Primavera (Italian for Spring Italian Cup) is an Italian football competition played by youth teams from Campionato Primavera. All players are under 20 of age. The first edition was held in the 1972–73 season. Due to sponsorshi ...

with Tallo contributing one goal against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in the first leg of the finals on 8 March 2012. In the 2012 Viareggio Tournament on 20 February 2012 Roma was beaten by the ''Old Lady''.

Professional career

Roma

Tallo was awarded number 26 shirt for Roma's first-team in March 2012. On 9 March, he was included in the first-team squad for the first time. He made his first team debut on 25 April 2012 against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

as a substitute for defender

Gabriel Heinze Gabriel Iván Heinze (; born 19 April 1978) is an Argentine football coach and former player. As a player, he operated as a defender, either as a left-back or a centre-back. Nicknamed '' Gringo'', he made a name for himself at Paris Saint-Germai ...

. In the next match, he replaced

Bojan Bojan (Serbian Cyrillic and Macedonian: Бојан; Ukrainian, Russian and Bulgarian Cyrillic: Боян, transcribed ''Boyan'') is a Slavic given name, derived from the Slavic noun ''boj'' "battle." The ending ''-an'' is a suffix frequently fo ...

in the second half as Roma trailed 1–2 to

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

and went on to assist Fábio Simplício for the 2–2 equaliser. He made a third successive substitute appearance on 1 May replacing Bojan at half-time in a 0–0 draw away to

. His three first team appearances came in the break between the regular season and the playoffs of the reserve league; Tallo never played for the first team again in the next four seasons, being loaned out to other clubs from 10 January 2013 to 30 June 2015. On 22 June 2012, Roma purchased Tallo in a co-ownership deal from Chievo for €1 million on a four-year contract. In January 2013 he left for

AS Bari Società Sportiva Calcio Bari, commonly referred to as SSC Bari and simply Bari, is an Italian football club based in Bari, Apulia. Bari currently plays in the . The team finished the 2021–22 season in first place in Serie C and earned prom ...

on loan. In June 2013 Roma signed Tallo outright for an additional €215,000 before sending him out on another loan, this time to French club

AC Ajaccio Athletic Club Ajaccien (), commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio, ACA or simply Ajaccio, is a French professional football club based in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and plays in the Ligue 2, the sec ...

. In 2014, he was signed by

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastia (, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a French professional association football, football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Football in France, ...

for a loan fee of €300,000.

Lille

On 15 July 2015, Tallo was signed by French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lille, Northern France competing in Ligue 1, the top division of Football in Franc ...

for €475,000. At the end of the 2016–17 season, he was released by the club.

Vitória

In September 2017,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Tallo joined

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

side

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

on a three-year contract. He scored 2 goals in 21 matches in the 2017–18 season. In February 2018, he faced a disciplinary process from his club after he reacted with obscene gestures to insults and alleged racist abuse by supporters during a 5–0 defeat to

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

. After the Christmas break in December 2018, Tallo and his teammate

Welthon Welthon Fiel Sampaio (born 21 June 1992) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward. Club career Born in Belém, Welthon played once in the Campeonato Paraense for hometown club Tuna Luso Bras ...

were absent from the training without justification. Vitoria then again started a disciplinary process being applied to Tallo for staying away from training, while the player flew back to his home country,

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

, and stayed there. Official sources confirmed on 25 January 2019, that the players contract had been terminated., desporto.sapo.pt, 25 January 2019 The player also had to compensate the club. Later Tallo wrote on social medias that he had terminated the contract because the club owed him money and that the club had behaved unprofessionally. Tallo argued, that the termination of contract with Vitória was due to "non-payment" of his salaries, stating that "he was not the only one to go through the same situation." After these statements the club announced it would sue Tallo.

Újpest

In mid-2020, Tallo was signed by

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

club

Újpest FC Újpest Football Club () is a Hungary, Hungarian professional association football, football club based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Formed in 1885, Újpest reached the first division of the Hungarian League in ...

. On 17 October 2020, he scored his first goal for Újpest in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

. On 13 January 2022, Tallo was loaned out to Turkish

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...

club

Samsunspor Samsunspor Kulübü, officially known as Samsunspor Football Club Joint Stock Company, or as Reeder Samsunspor due to sponsorship agreements, is a Turkey, Turkish Football club (association football), professional football club that competes in t ...

for the rest of the season.

Botoşani

Tallo moved to neighbouring Romania to play with FC Botoşani in

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

Dubočica

On March 15, 2024, Tallo signed with

Dubočica Leskovac ( sr-Cyrl, Лесковац, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Jablanica District in Southern Serbia (Geographical Region), southern Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a p ...

to play in the

Serbian First League The Serbian First League (), referred to as the Mozzart Bet First League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier in professional Serbia's football league. The league was formed in 2005, following a reshuffle of the second tier Serbo-Montenegr ...

International career

Tallo played for the Ivory Coast in the qualification for 2011 U20 African Cup of Nations against Tanzania (twice, also his debut). and against

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 ...

. After the U20 team was eliminated from U20 African Cup of Nations, Tallo was capped for the U23 team against

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. Tallo made his debut for the senior national team, coming off the bench in a 2–1 win against the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

during the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches determined the participating teams for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. A total of 16 teams competed in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. Prior to November 2014, it was expected that Morocco woul ...

. He was part of the Ivory Coast squad that won the competition, appearing in four matches as a substitute. Tallo entered the final match with a few seconds left in the second half of extra time to be one of the five first penalty takers, but missed his chance from the spot kick.

International stats

Honours

National team

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Club

Bastia *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

runner-up: 2014–15 Lille *

runner-up: 2015–16 Újpest *

Magyar Kupa The Hungarian Cup (, ), officially known as MOL Magyar Kupa for sponsorship reasons, is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association'','' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links