Sessi Octave Emile D'Almeida (born 20 November 1995) 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 ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Neftçi in the

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

. Born in France, he represents

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

at international level.

Club career

D'Almeida made his debut for

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

on 12 December 2013 in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

group stage against

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

, playing the first 75 minutes in the 1–0 away defeat before being substituted for

Théo Pellenard Théo Pellenard (born 4 March 1994) is a French professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Laval. Club career Born in Lille, Pellenard made his debut for Bordeaux on 12 December 2013 in the UEFA Europa League group stage agains ...

. On 23 August 2014, he made his

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 for Bordeaux, replacing André Biyogo Poko for the last 9 minutes of a 3–1 away win at

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

. After a successful trial with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in the summer of 2016, D'Almeida signed a two-year deal with the Championship club. He was released by Blackpool at the end of the 2017–18 season. On 13 July 2018, D'Almeida signed for League Two side

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil, a town in Somerset, England, with a council named Yeovil Town * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town W.F.C., an English women's football team affiliated with Yeovil T ...

on a one-year deal with an option of extending for a second year. At the end of the 2018–19 season, D'Almeida was released by Yeovil following the club's relegation from the Football League. On 24 July 2019, D'Almeida returned to France to sign for

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

side

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

on a two-year contract. On 5 June 2025,

club Neftçi announced the signing of D'Almeida to a two-year contract, with the option of a third, from

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

International career

D'Almeida was called up to the Benin national team squad in 2014 for their matches

2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches determined the participating teams for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. A total of 16 teams competed in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. Prior to November 2014, it was expected that Morocco woul ...

against Sao Tome. He made his debut for Benin in a 1–1 tie against

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

in 2015.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Benin's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each D'Almeida goal.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Almeida, Sessi 1995 births Living people Footballers from Bordeaux Men's association football midfielders Beninese men's footballers 21st-century Beninese sportsmen Benin men's international footballers French men's footballers French sportspeople of Beninese descent Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National 2 players English Football League players Primeira Liga players Cypriot First Division players Azerbaijan Premier League players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Barnsley F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Paris Saint-Germain FC players Yeovil Town F.C. players Valenciennes FC players C.D. Tondela players Pau FC players Apollon Limassol FC players Neftçi PFK players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players French expatriate men's footballers Beninese expatriate men's footballers Beninese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in England Beninese expatriate sportspeople in Portugal French expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Beninese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus French expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus French expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Black French sportspeople 21st-century French sportsmen