Abdoulaye Doucouré (born 1 January 1993) 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 lea ...

. Born in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he played for the Mali national team.

Early life

Doucouré was born in

Meulan-en-Yvelines Meulan-en-Yvelines (, before 2010: ''Meulan'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. It hosted part of the Sailing at the 1900 Su ...

, to Malian parents.

Club career

Rennes

Doucouré made his debut in the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

during the 2012–13 season for

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

, having come through their youth system.

Watford

On 1 February 2016, Doucouré signed for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

for an undisclosed fee and immediately joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

on loan. He made his first La Liga appearance one week later, when he came on as an 80th-minute substitute for Adalberto Peñaranda in a 1–2 home loss against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. Doucouré scored his first goal for Watford on 4 March 2017, netting an injury time consolation as Watford lost 3–4 to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. Doucouré scored seven goals and made two assists in the 2017–18 season. He was named "Player of the Season" for the club at the end of the 2017–18 season. In the 2018–19 season, Doucouré scored five goals and six assists. In Watford's 6-0 defeat in the

2019 FA Cup Final The 2019 FA Cup final was an association football match between Manchester City and Watford on 18 May 2019 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, and the 138th FA Cup final. It was Manchester City's eleventh appearance at the FA Cup final and W ...

, Doucouré was shown a

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative co ...

after protesting a referee's penalty decision.

Everton

On 8 September 2020, Premier League club Everton announced that they had signed Doucouré from

for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £20 million. He signed a three-year deal with a club option for a fourth season. Doucouré made his debut on 13 September during Everton's first game of the 2020–21 season, 1–0 win away from home against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. Doucouré scored his first Everton goal with a powerful header in a 3–2 away win against Fulham on 22 November 2020 in a Premier League fixture. He scored again against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in a 3–3 draw on 6 February 2021 at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

when he tapped in from close range. On 12 March, Everton manager

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti (; born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Brazil national team. Nicknamed "Carletto" in Italy and "Don Carlo" in Spain, he is regarded as one of the greatest ...

said that Doucouré had suffered a fractured foot in training thus ruling him out for 8–10 weeks. Ancelotti said he hoped Doucouré would return to the team before the end of the season. On 4 April 2023, Doucouré received a straight red card during Everton's 1–1 draw against

for violent conduct after hitting

Harry Kane Harry Edward Kane (born 28 July 1993) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Bundesliga club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich and Captain (association football), c ...

in the face. On 23 May, the club said it was extending the player's contract by a year until the end of the 2023–24 season. Five days later, on the final matchday of the 2022–23 season, Doucouré scored one of the most consequential goals in the club's history to secure a 1–0 win over

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

. Had Everton only drawn, they would have been overtaken by

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

on goal difference and been relegated to the second tier of English football for the first time since the 1950–51 season. Later that year, on 3 November, he signed a new contract until 2025. On 20 May 2025, he announced he would be leaving the club in June when his contract expired.

International career

Doucouré played for France at U21 level. In March 2019, he was approached by the Mali FA over representing the African country at international level. He is eligible to play for

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

, the country of his parents' origin, but rejected their approach. In February 2020, Doucouré said in an interview that he was targeting a place in the France national team but he also remained open to representing the Mali national team. In September 2020, Doucouré was called up by

for upcoming matches against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

on 9 October and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

on 13 October in Turkey, which he rejected due to his desire to play for France under

Didier Deschamps Didier Claude Deschamps (; born 15 October 1968) is a French professional football manager and former player who has been managing the France national team since 2012. He played as a defensive midfielder for several clubs, in France, Italy, Engl ...

. In February 2022, Mali FA President Baviuex Touré told the media that he was in negotiation with Doucouré, hoping that he would switch his international allegiance from France in time to feature in their World Cup play-offs in March. In March 2022, Doucouré finally accepted a call-up from

and he debuted with Mali in a 1–0 2022 World Cup qualification loss to

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

on 25 March 2022. In September 2023, Doucouré had revealed that he would not be representing Mali for the foreseeable future as he wanted to focus on his club career, and because his father—who had initially wanted him to represent Mali—had recently passed away.

Style of play

Former Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has said of Doucouré that "he can play everywhere on the pitch. He can play number 10, in behind, in front of the defence, his work defensively is really good. He is learning a lot tactically as well. He has a fantastic ability for the transition when we catch the ball. He is fantastic box-to-box."

Personal life

Doucouré lives with his family in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

. He has seven siblings. His cousin

Ladji Doucouré Ladji Doucouré (born 28 March 1983) is a French track and field athlete. Biography Ladji Doucouré's father and mother were Malian and Senegalese respectively. Ladji Doucouré was a football player and decathlete before specializing in hurdli ...

is a French track and field athlete. Doucouré is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. He says he often likes going to the

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

in his free time. He has said and has been seen making Dua before matches as he states, "I always make dua upplication always pray for Allah to help us in games. Without my faith, I would not be in this position today."''''

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Rennes *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

runner-up: 2013–14 Watford *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 2018–19 Individual * Watford Player of the Season: 2017–18

References

External links

Profile
at the Everton F.C. website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doucoure, Abdoulaye 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Meulan-en-Yvelines Footballers from Yvelines French men's footballers Malian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Stade Rennais FC players Watford F.C. players Granada CF footballers Everton F.C. players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Premier League players France men's youth international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers Mali men's international footballers French expatriate men's footballers Malian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Spain Malian expatriate sportspeople in England French sportspeople of Malian descent Malian people of French descent 21st-century French sportsmen