Cheick Yves Doukouré (born 11 September 1992) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Early life

Born in

Cocody Cocody (, ) is a suburb of and one of the 10 urban communes of Ivory Coast, communes of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It is upmarket and has an abundance of mansions. Cocody is where most of the wealthy businesspeople, ambassadors, and other affluent peop ...

, Ivory Coast, Doukouré moved to France at early age. He acquired

French nationality French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', (Latin for "right of blood") according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nat ...

on 13 September 2004, through the collective effect of his mother's

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

, and legally changed his first name from Cheick Kader to Cheick Yves.

Club career

Lorient

Doukouré joined

FC Lorient Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (;), commonly referred to as FC Lorient (), is a French professional association football club based in Lorient, Brittany. The club was founded in 1926 and currently competes in Ligue 2, having been relegated f ...

's youth setup in 2007, from FCM Aubervilliers. After featuring regularly for the reserves, he made his first team – and

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 ...

– debut on 7 August 2010, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Yann Jouffre Yann Jouffre (; born 23 July 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Nîmes, Guingamp, Lorient and FC Metz. Club career Born in Montélimar, Drôme, Jouffre made his professional debut for Nîmes Olympi ...

in a 2–2 away draw against

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or by the abbreviation AJA, is a French professional association football, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club plays in L ...

. After being rarely used, Doukouré was loaned to

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

side

SAS Épinal Stade Athletique Spinalien Épinal is a French football club based in the commune of Épinal. They currently play in Championnat National, the third tier of French football. Their kit colours are yellow and blue. They play their home matches at ...

for one year on 27 July 2012. Upon returning, he started to feature more regularly, and scored his first goal for the club on 10 May 2014 in a 1–0 away success over

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Metz

On 20 June 2014, Doukouré joined fellow first division side

FC Metz Football Club de Metz () is a Football in France, French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 1, the highest division in the French football league system, for the 2025–26 Ligue 1, ...

on a free transfer. He made his debut for the club on 9 August, replacing Fadil Sido in a 0–0 draw at

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lille, Northern France competing in Ligue 1, the top division of Football in Franc ...

. Doukouré appeared in 20 matches during the 2014–15 season, as his side suffered relegation. The following campaign, he appeared rarely as his side returned to the main category; in 2017, he also wore the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

armband in some matches.

Levante

On 4 August 2017, Doukouré signed a four-year deal with

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 ...

side

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

. The transfer fee paid to Metz was reported as

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

1.5 million. He made his debut in the category on 21 August, coming on as a substitute for Enis Bardhi in a 1–0 home win against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

. On 2 September 2019, Doukouré was loaned to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club based in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in th ...

for the season.

Leganés

On 23 July 2021, Doukouré signed a one-year deal with

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid. They currently compete in La Liga, the first tier of the Spanish league system. Leganés was officially founded 23 June 1928 and played thei ...

in the second division. The following 29 January, he left the club.

Aris

On 29 January 2022,

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki (), is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club founded on 25 March 1914 in Thessaloniki. Nicknamed ''God of War'', Aris was one of the strongest Greek clubs during t ...

officially announced the signing of Cheick Doukouré on an 2 1/2-year contract.

International career

After representing France at the under-18 and under-19 levels, Doukouré subsequently switched allegiance back to his home country

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

. On 11 January 2015, he made his full international debut for the latter, starting in a 1–0 friendly win against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first.''

Honours

Ivory Coast *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

CIV – GHA 0:0, 9:8 PSO
CAF

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doukoure, Cheick 1992 births Living people Footballers from Abidjan Ivorian men's footballers Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers French sportspeople of Ivorian descent Men's association football midfielders Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Super League Greece players FC Lorient players SAS Épinal players FC Metz players La Liga players Levante UD footballers SD Huesca footballers CD Leganés players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Iraklis F.C. (Thessaloniki) players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations–winning players France men's youth international footballers Ivory Coast men's international footballers Ivorian expatriate men's footballers Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Greece 21st-century French sportsmen