Abdoulaye Doucouré
Doucouré playing for Rennes in 2015
Personal information
Full name Abdoulaye Doucouré[1]
Date of birth (1993-01-01) 1 January 1993[2]
Place of birth Meulan-en-Yvelines, France
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[3]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Everton
Number 16
Youth career
2004–2007 OFC Les Mureaux
2007–2012 Rennes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Rennes B 23 (2)
2012–2016 Rennes 75 (12)
2016–2020 Watford 129 (17)
2016 → Granada (loan) 15 (0)
2020– Everton 101 (15)
International career‡
2009–2010 France U17 19 (1)
2010 France U18 5 (1)
2011–2012 France U19 7 (0)
2012–2013 France U20 3 (1)
2014 France U21 1 (0)
2022– Mali 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:56, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:28, 29 March 2022 (UTC)

Abdoulaye Doucouré (born 1 January 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Everton. Born in France, he plays for the Mali national team.

Early life

Doucouré was born in Meulan-en-Yvelines,[4] to Malian parents. His cousin Ladji Doucouré is a French track and field athlete.[5]

Club career

Rennes

Doucouré made his debut in the Ligue 1 during the 2012–13 season for Rennes, having come through their youth system.[6]

Watford

Doucouré playing for Watford in 2017

On 1 February 2016, Doucouré signed for Premier League club Watford for an undisclosed fee and immediately joined La Liga club Granada on loan.[7] 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.[8] Doucouré scored his first goal for Watford on 4 March 2017, netting an injury time consolation as Watford lost 3–4 to Southampton.[9]

Doucouré scored seven goals and made two assists in the 2017–18 season, with five goals and six assists the year after.[10] He was named "Player of the Season" for the club at the end of the 2017–18 season.[11]

Everton

On 8 September 2020, Premier League club Everton announced that they had signed Doucouré from Watford for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £20m.[12] He signed a three-year deal with a club option for a fourth season.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15] He scored again against Manchester United in a 3–3 draw on 6 February 2021 at Old Trafford when he tapped in from close range.[16] On 12 March, Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti 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.[17]

On 4 April 2023, Doucouré received a straight red card during Everton's 1–1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur for violent conduct after hitting Harry Kane in the face.[18] On 23 May, the club said it was extending the player's contract by a year until the end of the 2023–24 season.[19] 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. Had Everton only drawn, they would have been overtaken by Leicester City on goal difference and been relegated to the second tier of English football for the first time since the 1950–51 season.[20] Later that year, on 3 November, he signed a new contract until 2025.[21]

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, the country of his origin, but rejected their approach.[22]

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.[23] In September 2020, Doucouré was called up by Mali for upcoming matches against Ghana on 9 October and Iran on 13 October in Turkey,[24] which he rejected due to his desire to play for France under Didier Deschamps.[25]

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.[26]

In March 2022, Doucouré finally accepted a call-up from Mali and he debuted with Mali in a 1–0 2022 World Cup qualification loss to Tunisia on 25 March 2022.[27]

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."[28]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 16 December 2023[29]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rennes B 2010–11 CFA 60——60
2011–12 CFA 2 162——162
2012–13 10——10
Total 232——232
Rennes 2012–13 Ligue 1 41000041
2013–14 2066011277
2014–15 3533230415
2015–16 1622021203
Total 7512112629216
Granada (loan) 2015–16 La Liga 15000—150
Watford 2016–17 Premier League 2012010231
2017–18 3772000397
2018–19 3554010405
2019–20 3740020394
Total 12917804014117
Everton 2020–21 Premier League 2923120343
2021–22 3023010342
2022–23 2551010275
2023–24 1760030206
Total 10115717011516
Career total 3434626317238651

International

As of match played 29 March 2022[30]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Mali 202220
Total20

Honours

Watford

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Abdoulaye Doucouré: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  3. ↑ "Abdoulaye Doucouré: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  4. ↑ "Abdoulaye Doucoure". Goal. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  5. ↑ "Watford's Abdoulaye Doucouré: 'Being the second-youngest of eight has helped'". The Guardian. 3 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "Watford sign Abdoulaye Doucoure from Rennes in club record deal". EuroSport. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  7. ↑ "Watford sign Abdoulaye Doucoure and Adalberto Penaranda". BBC Sport. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  8. ↑ Ames, Nick (February 7, 2016). "Granada v Real Madrid: La Liga – as it happened" – via www.theguardian.com.
  9. ↑ "Watford 3–4 Southampton". BBC Sport. 4 March 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  10. ↑ "Thank you, Abdoulaye". DominicBaker. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  11. ↑ "End of Season Awards: Winners". Archived from the original on 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  12. ↑ "Everton transfer plans explained after Abdoulaye Doucoure, Allan and James Rodriguez signings". Liverpool Echo. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "Everton Sign Doucoure From Watford". Everton F.C. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  14. ↑ "Calvert-Lewin earns Everton win at Spurs". BBC Sport. 13 September 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "Calvert-Lewin scores twice as Everton beat Fulham". BBC Sport. 22 November 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  16. ↑ "Late Calvert-Lewin goal denies Man Utd". BBC Sport. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  17. ↑ "Abdoulaye Doucoure: Everton midfielder out for up to 10 weeks". BBC Sport. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  18. ↑ "WATCH: Tottenham captain Harry Kane FLOORED as Everton's Abdoulaye Doucoure strikes him in the face to earn straight red card". Goal.com. 4 April 2023.
  19. ↑ "Everton trigger one-year Doucoure deal extension". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  20. ↑ "Everton 1-0 Bournemouth: Abdoulaye Doucoure stunner fires Toffees to Premier League survival". Sky Sports. 28 May 2023.
  21. ↑ "Doucoure signs new Everton contract". Everton F.C. 3 November 2023.
  22. ↑ "Abdoulaye Doucouré contacted by Mali".
  23. ↑ "Watford's Abdoulaye Doucouré waits on French call up, but open to Mali invite". Archived from the original on 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  24. ↑ "Mali call up Doucoure and Adama Traore for friendly internationals". Reuters. 29 September 2020.
  25. ↑ "Abdoulaye Doucouré has rejected a call-up from Mali". Get French Football News. 7 October 2020.
  26. ↑ "Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure 'in negotiations' to switch allegiance from France". Liverpool Echo. 16 February 2022.
  27. ↑ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022". www.fifa.com.
  28. ↑ "Ancelotti tips Doucoure for France, lauds Everton defensive concentration". Royal Blue Mersey. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  29. ↑ "A. Doucouré". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  30. ↑ "Abdoulaye Doucouré". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  31. ↑ McNulty, Phil (18 May 2019). "Manchester City 6–0 Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  32. ↑ "End of Season Awards: Winners". Watford F.C. 12 May 2018. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
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