Mamadou Tounkara (born 19 January 1996) is a Senegalese

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 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) ** Sm ...

for Italian club

Cittadella Cittadella ( vec, Sitadeła) is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Blanes Blanes () is a town and municipality in the comarca of Selva in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. During Roman rule it was named Blanda or Blandae. It is known as the "Gateway to the Costa Brava". Its coast is part of the Costa Brava, which stretches ...

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, to Senegalese parents, Tounkara first began playing football with

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

's youth academy. In 2011, he was loaned to Centre D'Esports Farners in

Selva Selva () is a coastal comarque (county) in Catalonia, Spain, located between the mountain range known as the Serralada Transversal or Puigsacalm and the Costa Brava (part of the Mediterranean coast). Unusually, it is divided between the provinc ...

. Tounkara had a release clause of 3 million euro written into his Barcelona contract but injuries saw the club lose interest in the striker.

Lazio

After his Barcelona contract expired,

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

signed Tounkara to a three-year deal in August 2012. In Rome, he joined his former Barcelona teammate

Keita Baldé Keita Baldé Diao (born 8 March 1995) is a Senegalese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for Russian club FC Spartak Moscow, Spartak Moscow. Born in Spain, he decided to represent S ...

. Tounkara spent his first two seasons with the club playing in the Primavera youth team, first under

Alberto Bollini Alberto Bollini (born 16 June 1966) is an Italian football manager, who is in charge of the Italy national under-20 football team. Career On 3 February 2015 he replaced Dino Pagliari as manager of Lecce. From to 2016 to 2017 he was in charge of ...

and later under

Simone Inzaghi Simone Inzaghi (; born 5 April 1976) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. He is the head coach of Serie A club Inter Milan. The younger brother of Filippo Inzaghi, Simone played as a striker for a host of clubs during ...

. As a promising player, he was also selected to join the senior squad at pre-season camp in

Auronzo di Cadore Auronzo di Cadore is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Belluno (Cadore) in the Italian region of Veneto, located about north of Venice and about northeast of Belluno. While Auronzo is geographically only from the Austrian border, i ...

. Having been training with the first team, Tounkara made his

debut in the final match of the 2013–14 season, which Lazio won 1–0 at the

Stadio Olimpico The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...

against

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. Tounkara came off the bench to replace

Miroslav Klose Miroslav Josef Klose (, pl, Mirosław Józef Klose; born 9 June 1978 as Mirosław Marian Klose) is a German professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Austrian Footb ...

in the 81st minute of the game.

Crotone (loan)

In July 2015, Mamadou Tounkara was transferred to

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

on loan. The deal included a buy-out option for Crotone, while

have a buy-back option.

Salernitana (loan)

On 1 February 2016, Tounkara joined

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

on loan until the end of the season.

Flamurtari (loan)

On 30 January 2017, Tounkara joined

Flamurtari Flamurtari FC is a professional football club based in Vlorë, Albania. The club plays in the Kategoria e Parë, which is the second tier of football in the country. Founded in 1923, the club is one of the oldest in Albania, and it is also on ...

on loan until the end of the season.

Schaffhausen (loan)

On 3 July 2018, Tounkara joined

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the ...

on loan.

Zemplín Michalovce (loan)

On 1 February 2019, he joined

Zemplín Michalovce Zemplín or Zemplén can refer to: * Zemplín (region), a region in Slovakia * Zemplín (village), a village in Slovakia * Zemplén County Zemplén ( hu, Zemplén, sk, Zemplín, german: Semplin, Semmlin, la, Zemplinum) was an administrative cou ...

on loan.

Viterbese

On 11 August 2019, he transferred to

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

club Viterbese and signed a 2-year contract.

Cittadella

On 14 July 2021, he joined

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 ...

side

International career

Tounkara is eligible to represent both

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

at international level. In 2012, he received a call-up to the Spain under-17 team. Four years later, Tounkara revealed his decision to play for Senegal.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tounkara, Mamadou 1996 births Living people Senegalese Muslims Senegalese footballers Spanish Muslims Spanish footballers Footballers from Catalonia S.S. Lazio players F.C. Crotone players U.S. Salernitana 1919 players Flamurtari Vlorë players FC Schaffhausen players MFK Zemplín Michalovce players U.S. Viterbese 1908 players A.S. Cittadella players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Slovak Super Liga players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Albania Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Slovakia Spanish people of Senegalese descent People from Selva Sportspeople from the Province of Girona Association football forwards