Kouadio Emmanuel Boris Koné (born 17 May 2001) is a French 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

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 ...

for club

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

and the France national team.

Early and personal life

Koné was born in

Colombes Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 53rd largest city in France. ...

, Hauts-de-Seine, and holds Ivorian and French nationalities.

Club career

Toulouse

Koné made his professional debut for

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

in a 2–1 loss to

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

on 24 May 2019.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

On 21 January 2021,

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

announced the signing of Koné on a deal running until 2025, while also confirming that he would finish the 2020–21 season at Toulouse. The reported fee for the midfielder was €9 million. After completing the move in the summer, Koné was given the number 17 jersey at Mönchengladbach. Upon signing for the new club, he stated that Gladbach was desperate to get him, and at some point, he could not say no: “They tried everything, and that impressed me”. Koné scored his first goal for Gladbach in a 5–0

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

win over

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

on 27 October 2021. Koné was tied for most yellow cards in the 2022–23 season in the Bundesliga with Jeffrey Gouweleeuw of

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...

, as they both accumulated 12 bookings over the course of the league competition. Koné played a total of 30 league matches, scoring his only goal on 11 November 2022 in a 4–2 win against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

, as Gladbach finished the season in the 10th position. The beginning of Koné's 2023–24 season was disrupted by a knee injury, suffered while being on international duty in June. Koné once again scored his only league goal against Dortmund, this time in a 4–2 loss on 25 November 2023. He was sidelined for another month after injuring his thigh playing an international friendly match on 28 March.

Roma

On 30 August 2024, Koné moved to Italy, and joined

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

for an €18 million estimated fee, signing a five-year contract. The deal was structured as a loan for the 2024–25 season, followed by an obligation to buy. Koné made his debut for the ''Gialorossi'' two days later, on 1 September, as a substitute in the 0–0 draw against Juventus. He made his first start for his new team on 15 September in a 1–1 draw against Genoa. On 27 October, he scored his first goal for Roma in a 5–1 loss against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

in the Serie A. Koné quickly established himself as an indispensable figure in Roma's midfield, with particularly notable performances 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 ...

, where he delivered standout displays, such as in the 3–0 victory over SC Braga on 12 December, where he registered an assist, made 7 key passes, and completed 46 out of 51 passes. After Roma finished fifth in the Serie A for the 2024–25 season, after a late surge under new manager

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Serie A club AS Roma, Roma but will leave on 30 June 2025, followin ...

, Koné described the season as "complicated", lamenting the fact that the club changed three coaches during the season: Daniele De Rossi,

Ivan Jurić Ivan Jurić (; born 25 August 1975) is a Croatian professional association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of Serie A, Italian Serie A club Atalanta BC, Atalanta. ...

and Ranieri.

International career

Koné represented France as a youth international, competing at the U18, U19 and U21 level. Koné was also a member of France's team at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, winning a silver medal after losing 5–3 in the final against Spain. Koné made his debut for the senior France national team on 6 September 2024 in a Nations League game against Italy at the

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

. He substituted Youssouf Fofana in the 58th minute of a 3–1 loss for France.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

France U23 *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

silver medal:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

France *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

third place: 2024–25 Orders * Knight of the National Order of Merit: 2024

References

External links

Manu Koné
at the Borussia Mönchengladbach website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koné, Manu 2001 births Living people Footballers from Colombes French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders INF Clairefontaine players Paris FC players AC Boulogne-Billancourt players Toulouse FC players Borussia Mönchengladbach players AS Roma players Championnat National 3 players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Bundesliga players Serie A players France men's youth international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers France men's international footballers Olympic footballers for France Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Olympic silver medalists for France Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite 21st-century French sportsmen