Hamed Junior Traorè (born 16 February 2000) 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 le ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for club

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, on loan from club

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, and the Ivory Coast national team.

Early life

Born in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

, Ivory Coast, Traorè moved to Italy at a young age.

Club career

Empoli

Traorè made his

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

debut for

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

on 8 October 2017 in a game against

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

. On 26 August 2018, he made his debut in Serie A in the defeat against

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, substituting Zajc the 85th minute. On 15 January 2019,

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

agreed a deal to sign Traorè with him remaining on loan at Empoli for the remainder of the season. However, at the end of the season, Empoli chairman Fabrizio Corsi announced the deal had fallen through.

Sassuolo

On 12 July 2019, Traorè joined

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

on a two-year loan with an option to buy.

Bournemouth

On 31 January 2023, Traorè joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

on an initial loan until the end of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

, with the deal being set to turn into a permanent transfer and including a five-year contract. On 16 May, Bournemouth announced that the mandatory obligation to buy for the player had officially been activated. In December 2023, Bournemouth manager

Andoni Iraola Andoni Iraola Sagarna (, ; born 22 June 1982) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of Rayo Vallecano. Combative and with good passing skills, he spent the vast majority of his professional c ...

publicly confirmed that Traorè had been hospitalized after being diagnosed with

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, and that he was set to undergo long-term recovery. The following month, following medical tests in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, he was cleared to return to full training.

Loan to Napoli

On 17 January 2024, Traorè returned to Italy and joined Serie A club

on loan with a reported option to buy of €25 million.

International career

Traorè debuted for the Ivory Coast U23s in a pair of

2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification The 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification was a men's under-23 football competition, which decided the participating teams of the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. Players born 1 January 1997 or later were eligible to participate in the co ...

matches in March 2019. He made his debut for the Ivory Coast national team on 6 September 2021 in a

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

against

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, a 2–1 home victory. He substituted

Jérémie Boga Jérémie Boga (born 3 January 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Atalanta. Born in France, he plays for the Ivory Coast national team. Coming through Chelsea's youth system, Boga spent the 2015–16 season ...

in the 69th minute.

Personal life

In July 2020, an investigation into trafficking of football players was launched by the public prosecutor's office of

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

. Among the involved was Hamed Mamadou Traorè, a distant relative of Hamed and his alleged brother

Amad Diallo Amad Diallo (born 11 July 2002) is an Ivorian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for club Sunderland A.F.C., Sunderland, on loan from club Manchester United F.C., Manchester Unite ...

, who was accused of posing as their father to facilitate their immigration to Italy. The investigation also questioned the relationship between Hamed and Amad. On 10 February 2021, Traorè was found guilty of violating the Italian Sports Justice Code in order to join the football club "ASD Boca Barco" in 2015 under the name "Hamed Junior Traorè". He was accused of falsifying documents in order to fake a relationship with Hamed Mamadou Traorè, an Ivorian citizen resident in Italy, and request a

family reunification Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries because of the presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the divided family or only specific members of the family to e ...

. Traorè requested a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

, with the Federal Prosecutor's Office imposing a fine of €48,000.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Traorè goal.''

Honours

Ivory Coast U23 *

Africa U-23 Cup of Nations The Total Africa U-23 Cup of Nations (known as the CAF U-23 Championship until 2015) is the main international football competition for CAF nations, played by under 23 years old players. It is held every four years with the top three teams qualif ...

runner-up:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Traore, Hamed 2000 births Ivorian emigrants to Italy Living people Footballers from Abidjan Men's association football midfielders Ivorian men's footballers Ivory Coast men's under-20 international footballers Ivory Coast men's international footballers Empoli FC players US Sassuolo Calcio players AFC Bournemouth players SSC Napoli players Serie B players Serie A players Premier League players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Ivorian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England