Kévin Gnonher Boli (born 21 June 1991) is a 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 ...

who plays for Romanian

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently Sponsor (commercial), sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It ...

club Farul Constanța. Primarily a centre-back, he can also play as a full back. After starting his professional career with Sedan in the French second division, he moved to Belgian side Mouscron-Péruwelz in 2013. Boli changed countries again after two seasons, signing for Viitorul Constanța in Romania, where he helped to a national title, before being transferred to CFR Cluj. Born in France, Boli represented Ivory Coast at under-20 level. Boli is one of the most successful foreign players that has ever played in the

. He has won 5 consecutive championships between 2017 and 2021. 1 with Viitorul Constanța and 4 with

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vasutas Sport Club'', whe ...

Club career

Sedan

Born in

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, Boli began his career at his hometown club,

, before signing his first professional contract with Sedan in June 2011, having trained with the club since February 2011. On 23 July 2011, Boli made his professional debut against them in the first round of Coupe de la Ligue, which saw Sedan win 4–1 to advance to the next stage. However, his next appearance in the second round of Coupe de la Ligue against

US Boulogne Union Sportive de Boulogne-sur-Mer Côte d'Opale (commonly referred to as US Boulogne or frequently, simply Boulogne) is a French association football club based in the commune of Boulogne-sur-Mer. The club was founded in 1898 and currently pl ...

saw him get sent–off for a second bookable offence and was suspended as a result. His first goal came on 31 August 2011, in a 2–0 win over

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as a ...

in the third round of the Coupe de la Ligue. On 30 September 2011, Boli made his senior debut for Sedan, in a 2–2 away draw with

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

for the Ligue 2 championship. Towards the end of the 2011–12 season, he was featured as a substitute in a number of matches and ended up making 16 appearances and scoring once in all competitions. For his performance during the season, Boli signed a contract with Sedan, keeping him until 2014. In the 2012–13 season, Boli made his first appearance of the season, where he started the whole game, in a 3–2 loss against

FC Metz Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as FC Metz or simply Metz (), is a French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 2, the second division in the French football league sys ...

in the first round of Coupe de la Ligue. He managed to win a place in the first team in a number of matches for the side. Then, Boli scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–1 win over Le Mans on 8 March 2013. He scored again on 3 May 2013, in a 4–2 loss against

Dijon FCO Dijon Football Côte d'Or (; literally "Dijon Football Gold Coast"), commonly referred to as Dijon FCO or simply as Dijon, is a French football club based in Dijon. The club was founded in 1998 as a result of a merger between two local clubs in ...

. However, the club found themselves in a relegation zone throughout the 2012–13 season and were eventually relegated to Championnat de France Amateur. Despite this, Boli went on to finish the 2012–13 season, making 29 appearances and scoring two times in all competitions. During his spell with ''Les Sangliers'', he amassed competitive totals of 46 games and three goals.

Mouscron-Péruwelz

Boli moved abroad for the first time in July 2013, signing a contract with Belgian side Mouscron-Péruwelz. His Mouscron-Péruwelz debut came on 10 August 2013, where he started the whole game, in a 2–1 win over

RWS Bruxelles RWS Bruxelles (Royal White Star Bruxelles) was a Belgian football club located in the municipality of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels. History The club, founded in 1948, was formerly known as Kapelleveld FC, playing in Evere, but they changed ...

. Since joining the club, he quickly established himself in the starting eleven for the side. On 12 April 2014, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–1 win over R.W.D.M. Brussels. Later in the 2013–14 season, Boli helped the side get promoted to

Jupiler Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

next season. He finished the season, making 32 appearances and scoring once in all competitions. At the start of the 2014–15 season, Boli found himself at the substitute bench and away from the first team. On 24 September 2014, he made his first appearance of the season against K.V.V. Coxyde in the sixth round of Beker Van Belgie but was sent–off for a second bookable offence, as they were eliminated in penalty shoot–out after the game went extra time. By October, Boli regained back his first team place for the side, mostly playing in either the centre-back position or the right-back position. In a 1–0 loss against Zulte Waregem on 20 December 2014, he was sent–off at the last minutes for showing a gesture at an opposition player, resulting him sent–off; but a few days later, no charges were made against him and resumed playing in a next match. On 18 April 2015, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 5–1 loss against Lokeren. At the end of the 2014–15 season, Boli went on to make 20 appearances and scoring once in all competitions.

Viitorul Constanța

On 14 August 2015, Boli penned a three-year deal with Romanian top-flight club Viitorul Constanța. He made his Viitorul Constanța debut, where he came on as a substitute for Cristian Ganea, in a 4–0 win over Poli Timișoara. He then set up a goal for

Aurelian Chițu Aurelian Ionuț Chițu (born 25 March 1991) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga I club FC U Craiova. Club career Viitorul In 2009, Chițu signed a contract with then Liga III club, Viitorul Constanța, ...

to score the club's second goal of the game, in a 3–1 win over

FC Botoșani Fotbal Club Botoșani (), commonly known as FC Botoșani or simply Botoșani, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Botoșani, Botoșani County, that competes in the Liga I. In 2013, twelve years after being established, ...

on 26 October 2015. Since making his debut for the club, Boli quickly established himself in the starting eleven, where he played in the centre-back positions. He occasionally played in the full-back position on two occasions. He scored his first competitive goal in a 6–1 home success over ASA Târgu Mureș on 2 May 2016. At the end of the 2015–16 season, he went on to make 33 appearances and scoring once in all competitions. In the 2016–17 season, his first appearance of the season came on 14 August 2016, starting the whole game, in a 3–1 win over

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of the 2011 census. It lies on the Mureș River, the ...

. He started out playing in the centre-back position for the next two matches, before playing in the left-back position for a while. On 31 October 2016, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–1 win over

FC Voluntari Fotbal Club Voluntari (), commonly known as FC Voluntari or simply Voluntari, is a Romanian professional football club based in Voluntari, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga I. Founded in 2010, it has been playing since the 2015–16 se ...

. He also scored on 25 November 2016, in a 2–0 win over Târgu Mureș. This was followed up by helping the club keep two cleans sheets in the next two matches. By late November, he returned to his centre-back position, where he played for the rest of the season. He then scored his third goal of the season on 4 February 2017, in a 2–1 win over

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

. Boli made 33 appearances and netted three goals in the 2016–17 Liga I, as Viitorul claimed its first-ever league title. For his performance, Boli, along with Romario Benzar and

Florinel Coman Florinel Teodor Coman (; born 10 April 1998) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga I club FCSB and the Romania national team. After starting out at Viitorul Constanța and winning a national championship in his ...

, were named the league's Team of the Year. Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Boli was linked a move away from the club, as clubs from Greece, Romania and Turkey were interested in signing him. He appeared as the club's captain for the first time in his Viitorul Constanța career, in a 1–0 loss against Dinamo București on 31 July 2017. On 5 August 2017, he was sent–off for a second bookable offence, in a 1–0 loss against Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe. By the time of his departure, Boli went on to make eleven appearances in all competitions for the side.

CFR Cluj

On 4 September 2017, the last day of the summer

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

in Romania,

transferred Boli for a fee of around

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

500,000. The deal also seen Răzvan Horj going the other way to Viitorul Constanța. After appearing as an unused substitute against Universitatea Craiova on 10 September 2017, Boli made his CFR Cluj debut, where he started the whole game, in a 1–0 win over

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional football club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best period was between 2011 and 2019, wh ...

seven days later. Since making his debut for the club, Boli played in a number of matches as a centre-back position. He was then involved in the four matches between 29 October 2017 and 27 November 2017, that saw him help the club keep four clean sheets. However, he suffered an injury in early December and was sidelined until March. Boli returned to the first team on 31 March 2018, where he started the whole game and kept a clean sheet, in a 0–0 draw against Universitatea Craiova. He played in every match since returning from injury, until his sending off against Universitatea Craiova on 6 May 2018 and never played again for the rest of the season. Despite this, on 20 May 2018, "the Railwaymen" won 1–0 over defending champions Viitorul Constanța and clinched their fourth Liga I title, as they finished one point above

FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), commonly known as FCSB, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the top flight of the Romanian league system, the Liga I. The original ''Steaua București'' footbal ...

in the table. At the end of the 2017–18 season, Boli went on to make 14 appearances for the side.

Guizhou Hengfeng

On 14 July 2018, Boli left CFR Cluj and joined Chinese club

Guizhou Hengfeng Guizhou FC (; ) was a professional Chinese football club. The team was based in Guiyang, Guizhou and their home stadium was the 51,636 seater Guiyang Olympic Sports Center. Their majority shareholders were Hengfeng Real Estate, Guizhou Zhicheng ...

for a reported €2.5 million. Upon joining the club, he was given a number 39 shirt for the side. However, his start to his career at Guizhou Hengfeng suffered a setback when he suffered an injury, and didn't play on 11 August 2018 against Hebei China Fortune and started the whole game, as they lost 1–0 against them. On 20 October 2018, he scored his first goal for Guizhou Hengfeng, in a 3–0 win over Dalian Yifang. Despite the club's relegation at the end of the 2018 season, Boli was praised by the Dongqiudi website for his performance and was the club's fan favourite. Boli went on to make 14 appearances for the side.

Return to CFR Cluj

In February 2019, he returned to CFR Cluj on loan. On 3 September 2019, he was loaned again with an option to buy to CFR Cluj.

International career

Boli was selected in the squad of Ivory Coast under-20 national team for the

2011 Toulon Tournament The 2011 Toulon Tournament was the 39th edition of the Toulon Tournament and took place from 1 June to 10 June. Ivory Coast were the defending champions, but they failed to win a single match and were eliminated in the group stage. Colombia won ...

, where he made two appearances.

Personal life

Boli is the son of the Ivorian former footballer

Roger Boli Roger Zokou Boli (born 26 September 1965) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward for clubs in the French and British leagues. Born in Ivory Coast, he represented France at youth level. He is currently a sports agent. Caree ...

, and nephew of French former footballer

Basile Boli Basile Boli (born 2 January 1967) is a Ivorian-born French former professional footballer who played as a defender, and a current television sports presenter. He spent the majority of his career with Auxerre and Marseille before ending his c ...

. He is the brother of Yohan Boli and Charles Boli, and the cousin of Yannick Boli.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Viitorul Constanța *

: 2016–17 * Supercupa României runner-up:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

CFR Cluj *

: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21 Individual *

Team of the Season: 2016–17

References

External links