Sékou Koné (born 3 February 2006) is a Malian 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

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 ...

. At international level, he has played for the Mali under-17 team.

Career

A graduate of

JMG Academy The JMG Academy is a sports organisation and training company established by French international football player Jean-Marc Guillou. Overview Guillou had established Académie de Sol Beni in Abidjan in 1994 via a partnership with ASEC Mimosas ...

, Koné played for

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

-based club Guidars. He played for Mali at the

2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations known as the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes or 2023 U17 AFCON for short was the 14th edition (19th if editions without hosts are included) of the biennial African youth footb ...

, where his performances helped Mali to a fourth-place finish, as well as earning Koné a place in the team of the tournament. He then appeared at the

2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 19th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football tournament contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was hel ...

, at which Mali finished third thanks to a 3–0 win over Argentina in the third-place play-off. This led to interest from clubs around the world, including England's

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

and

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, and Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg. Koné signed for Manchester United on 30 August 2024.

Style of play

Koné mainly plays as a

and is known for his ball-winning skills and stamina, which allow him to track back and disrupt opposition play, but he is also capable of getting involved in attacking moves. His style of play has been compared to that of former

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and

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 ...

midfielder

Yaya Touré Gnégnéri Yaya Touré (born 13 May 1983) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently an assistant coach for the Saudi Arabia national team. Touré aspired to be a striker during h ...

by the African media due to his explosive and energetic displays.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Mali U17 *

FIFA U-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 annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

third place:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual *

U-17 Africa Cup of Nations The U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, is a biennial youth association football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for its nations consist ...

Best XI:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kone, Sekou 2006 births Living people Malian men's footballers Footballers from Bamako Men's association football midfielders Mali men's youth international footballers Manchester United F.C. players Malian expatriate men's footballers Malian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England