Soualiho Meïté (born 17 March 1994) 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

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

Club career

Early career

On 14 March 2011, Meïté signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

. He was subsequently promoted to the senior team by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Laurent Fournier Laurent Fournier (born 14 September 1964) is a French former professional footballer. Managerial career Fournier retired in 1998, immediately becoming manager of his final club SC Bastia in Ligue 1. He was fired in April 1999, and his next jobs ...

and assigned the number 32 shirt. Meïté made his professional debut on 20 November in a 2–1 defeat against

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 ...

, appearing as a substitute.

Monaco

On 17 June 2017, Meïté was transferred to

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

for €8 million. He made his debut for the club on 16 September that year. On 2 January 2018, Meïté was loaned to Bordeaux. He scored his first goal on 15 April in a 3–1 away win against Montpellier.

Torino

On 10 July, Meïté was signed by Italian club

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

through an equal exchange with full-back Antonio Barreca, who moved to Monaco. He made his debut for the ''Granata'' on 12 August during

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

against

Cosenza Cosenza (; Languages of Calabria#Northern Calabrian (Cosentian), Cosentian: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city located in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. ...

(4–0) as a starter. He scored his first goal for the club on 26 August in a 2–2 draw against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

San Siro San Siro is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy and one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is the home stadium of the city's principal ...

. On 14 January, Meïté signed with

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

, on loan from

with an option to buy.

Benfica

Meïté joined Portuguese club Benfica in July 2021, signing a contract until 2026. The next stop in Meite's career was Benfica. In Lisbon he made 27 appearances before leaving on loan for Cremonese in the 2022–23 season, where he made 35 appearances and produced two assists.

PAOK

On 27 August 2023, Meïté joined

on loan with an option to buy. The agreement for the 29-year-old French midfielder is for an option of four million euros, with the Lusitanians retaining a resale percentage (30%). Meïté made his debut with PAOK against OFI as a substitute on 3 September 2023. On 5 October Soualiho was named Fans' Man of the Match with a percentage of 31% against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

in Toumba for the 2nd matchday of the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

2023-24 group stage. He scored his first goal for the club on 14 January in a 4–0 win against

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club (), or with its full name Panipirotikós Athlitikós Síllogos Giánnina (, ''Panepirotic Athletic Club Giannina'') is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in the city of Ioannina, the capita ...

at Toumba. On 26 June 2025, PAOK triggered the option to buy Meïté. The French midfielder signed a contract for one year with the option for another year.

International career

Born in France, Meïté is of Ivorian descent. A former France youth international, he represented his nation at under-16 and under-17 level. He played with the under-17 team at the

2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 14th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was h ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Zulte Waregem *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

: 2016–17 Benfica *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

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 ...

PAOK *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

: 2023–24

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meite, Soualiho Living people 1994 births French men's footballers France men's youth international footballers French expatriate men's footballers Ivorian men's footballers French sportspeople of Ivorian descent Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Paris AJ Auxerre players Lille OSC players S.V. Zulte Waregem players AS Monaco FC players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Torino FC players AC Milan players S.L. Benfica footballers US Cremonese players PAOK FC players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players Belgian Pro League players Serie A players Primeira Liga players Super League Greece players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal French expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Greece French expatriate sportspeople in Greece 21st-century French sportsmen