Mohamed-Ali Cho (born 19 January 2004), commonly known as Momo Cho, is a French 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 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

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

. Born in France and raised in England, Cho previously represented England as a youth international before switching his allegiance to France.

Early Years

Cho was born in France to an Ivorian father and a French mother of Moroccan origins and moved to England at one week old, where his family worked in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He spent his childhood moving between England and France several times. Cho briefly returned to France at age 6 to play in

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department **US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missou ...

's and then Paris Saint-Germain's academy, before returning to England at age 11.

Club career

Angers

A youth product of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Everton, Cho signed his first professional contract with Angers on 2 May 2020. In doing so, he became the second youngest player to sign a professional contract in France (behind Eduardo Camavinga). Angers planned to initially use him in the reserve teams, but he quickly became part of the first team. He made his professional debut with Angers in a 2–0

loss to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

on 30 August 2020. He was one of the 10 youngest players to play in the top European leagues during the season. He started his first match for Angers in the cup on 11 February 2021, in a 2–1 win against

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. He made his first league start on 17 April 2021 against

Real Sociedad

On 15 June 2022, it was announced that Cho had signed a five-year deal with

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

side

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

. The transfer fee paid to Angers was reportedly in the region of €12 to €15 million. On 21 December, he scored his first goal at the club in a 5–0 away win over CD Coria in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

second round. On 4 June 2023, he scored his first La Liga goal in a 2–1 victory over Sevilla.

Nice

On 8 January 2024, Cho returned to France, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with Ligue 1 club

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. ...

, for a reported transfer fee of €12 million.

International career

Born in France, raised in England, and of Ivorian and Moroccan descent, Cho is eligible for all four national teams. He was a youth international for England with two caps for the England U16s. He has also played for the England U15s. In early 2021, Cho said that he hadn't decided on who to represent internationally, stating: "I am well aware of the options I have and we will see later". He switched to represent the France U21s in April 2021.

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile
at the Real Sociedad website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cho, Mohamed-Ali 2004 births Living people Footballers from Seine-Saint-Denis Men's association football forwards French men's footballers France men's under-21 international footballers English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Ivorian men's footballers Moroccan men's footballers French emigrants to England French sportspeople of Ivorian descent French sportspeople of Moroccan descent Black French sportspeople English people of Ivorian descent English people of Moroccan descent Black British sportsmen Angers SCO players Real Sociedad footballers OGC Nice players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players La Liga players French expatriate men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Spain English expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain