Souleymane Coulibaly (born 26 December 1994) 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 a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne ( ar, الوفاق الرياضي السطايفي), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in ...

Early life

As a 13-year-old, Coulibaly emigrated to Italy to avoid conflict in

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

. He joined his father who had married an Italian woman.

Club career

Siena

Soon after arriving in Italy, Coulibaly signed for Junior Camp Arezzo Football Academy, one of the best academies in Tuscany. He played in the Allievi Regionali team and after a few months President Umberto Zerbini suggested his name to

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

. In 2010–11 he played 10 games for the Siena under-19s, scoring once.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 18 July 2011,

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

confirmed they had signed Coulibaly following his golden boot-winning performance at the

FIFA Under-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

. He scored for the Tottenham Hotspur XI on his debut against

Brighton and Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

in Algarve. He scored twice in a 7–1 win for Spurs youth over

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

in their second group game of the NextGen Tournament on 31 August 2011. He also opened the scoring in their third group game away at

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

, where they won 2–1. On 22 December 2011, Coulibaly scored an injury-time winner against

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

in the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

, followed by a goal in a 2–1 victory over

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

in the fourth round on 11 January 2012. He made his first team debut as a 65th-minute substitute in a pre-season friendly against Stevenage on 18 July 2012.

Grosseto (loan)

On 25 January 2013, Coulibaly joined Italian

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 ...

club

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the m ...

on loan until the end of the season where he scored two goals from 12 appearances.

Bari

In September 2014, Coulibaly was sold to

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

and was immediately loaned to

Pistoiese Unione Sportiva Pistoiese 1921 is an Italian association football club, based in Pistoia, Tuscany. Currently, Pistoiese plays in Serie D. Originally founded on 21 April 1921 and later restored after bankruptcy, the team plays their home games ...

Peterborough United

Coulibaly was revealed as a

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

player after his trial at the club on 20 July 2015 along with Andrew Fox and

Kieran Sadlier Kieran Paul Sadlier (born 14 September 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Leyton Orient, on loan from Bolton Wanderers. He can also play at wing-back. Sadlier previously won both the League of Ireland Premier Div ...

. He started in five games for Peterborough, came on nine times as a substitute, and scored a total of eight goals. On 24 March 2016, he joined Newport County on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season. He made his Newport debut on 2 April 2016, starting in a win 1–0 defeat versus

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 23 April 2016 against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

Kilmarnock

After leaving

it was confirmed in June 2016 that Coulibaly had signed for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

side

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

. He scored on his debut as Kilmarnock beat

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

2–1 in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. Coulibaly scored 11 goals in 26 appearances for Kilmarnock.

Al Ahly

After being in talks with two clubs based in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, Egypt,

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

and

Zamalek Zamalek ( ar, الزمالك , ''al zamalek'') is an affluent district of western Cairo encompassing the northern portion of Gezira Island in the Nile River. The island is connected with the river banks through three bridges each on the east an ...

, Coulibaly chose to sign with reigning champions Al Ahly on a three and a half year contract on 24 January 2017. A transfer fee of £800,000 was paid to Kilmarnock. On 25 May 2017, Coulibaly left Egypt and returned to the UK without telling anyone. On 4 June 2017, Coulibaly posted on Twitter, saying that he had felt oppressed at Al Ahly and had left Egypt because he did not feel safe. After the tweet other African players that played for Al Ahly said that they felt safe and happy, such as

Flávio Amado Flávio da Silva Amado (born 30 December 1979), better known as Flávio, is an Angolan former professional footballer striker. He is the assistant of Angolan side Petro Atlético. Club career Flávio helped his team Al Ahly to participate in ...

who said "what Coulibaly said made him laugh". Al-Ahly submitted a complaint to

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

after Coulibaly left the club and requested compensation. On 25 April 2018, a FIFA commission found against Coulibaly, ruling that a fine of $1,436,000 be awarded to Al Ahly.

Partick Thistle

In August 2018, Coulibaly joined

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

side

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

on a deal that is subject to international clearance. The

Egyptian Football Association The Egyptian Football Association ( ar, الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Egypt. A member of FIFA since 1923 and a founding member of CAF, the EFA has jurisdiction for the Egyptian football lea ...

rejected a request for clearance, but FIFA granted a temporary certificate instead in early October. He was released by Partick Thistle in May 2019.

Étoile Sportive du Sahel

In May 2019 he signed for Tunisian club

Étoile Sportive du Sahel Étoile may refer to: Places ;France * Charles de Gaulle – Étoile, station of the Paris Métro * Étoile-Saint-Cyrice, commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in France * Étoile-sur-Rhône, commune in the Drôme department in France * L'Éto ...

ES Sétif

On 19 August 2023, he joined

International career

Souleymane Coulibaly began his international career with

Ivory Coast national under-17 football team The Ivory Coast national under-17 football team, nicknamed ''Les petit Éléphants'' ("The Little Elephants" in French), represents Ivory Coast in international football at an under-17 level and is controlled by the Ivorian Football Federation. ...

at the

2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fourteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the eleventh played since the change in age limits from under 16s to Under 17s in 1991. It was held in Mexico with games being played amongst various venues ...

where he scored nine

goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

in four matches: one goal against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, a poker against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, and a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a draw against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Coulibaly also scored a goal in a 2–3 loss to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the Round of 16. He held the competition record for most goals scored in one tournament along with French striker

Florent Sinama Pongolle Florent Stéphane Sinama Pongolle (born 20 October 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was signed at only 16 by Liverpool, but could never impose himself in the first team. He also spent several seasons i ...

(at the earlier held

2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship The FIFA U-17 World Championship 2001, the ninth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Port of Spain, Malabar in Arima, Marabella in San Fernando, Couva, and Bacolet in Scarborough at Trinidad and Tobago between 13 and 30 September ...

), who did it in six matches rather than Coulibaly's four. He scored nine of his side's ten goals overall, which meant that he scored every 40 minutes of match time, or slightly more than once per half played. The record has since been broken by Nigerian striker

Victor Osimhen Victor James Osimhen (born 29 December 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Napoli and the Nigeria national team. Born in Nigeria, Osimhen began his senior career in Germany at VfL Wolfsburg in 2017. Fol ...

, who scored 10 goals in 7 games at the 2015 World Cup. As a result of his performances, Coulibaly was linked in the media to moves to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, before finally moving to

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

. He has been labelled the "New Drogba" by the media, in reference to fellow Ivorian footballer

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at ...

. Coulibaly made one appearance for the Ivory Coast national under-21 football team, as they lost a friendly 5–1 to

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coulibaly, Souleymane 1994 births Living people People from Lagunes District Ivorian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Ivory Coast men's youth international footballers Serie B players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Egyptian Premier League players Cypriot First Division players ACR Siena 1904 players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players US Grosseto 1912 players SSC Bari players US Pistoiese 1921 players Peterborough United F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Al Ahly SC players Étoile Sportive du Sahel players Karmiotissa Polemidion FC players Ivorian expatriate men's footballers Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Expatriate men's footballers in Egypt Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus