Souleymane Keïta (born 24 November 1986) is a

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

an former 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 played 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 ...

Career

Born in

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 ...

, Keïta started his career in

with local side

Djoliba AC Djoliba Athletic Club is a Malian football club and one of the two biggest teams in Mali alongside the Stade Malien. The team is based in the capital city of Bamako. It has its headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes th ...

. After just one season with the senior team, he joined Emirati club

Al-Jazira Jazira, al-Jazira, Jazeera, al-Jazeera, etc. are all transcriptions of Arabic meaning "the island" or "the peninsula". The term may refer to: Business * Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait Locations * Al-Jazira, a traditional ...

, where he stayed for just one season before leaving the club. In the summer of 2005 he joined

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n club

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne (), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional association football, football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in 1958 and its colours are bl ...

and instantly had an impact. In his first season, he was a main stay in the team starting line-up and helped the team finish fourth in the standings and earn a spot in next year's edition of the

Arab Champions League The Arab Club Champions Cup (, ) is a club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by top clubs from the Arab world. The tournament is contested by a total of 37 teams from Asia and Africa. F ...

. The 2006–07 season would be his most successful to date, helping ES Sétif win the Algerian League and the Arab Champions League.

Transfer dispute

After winning the 2007 Arab Champions League, he signed a contract with Qatari club Al-Arabi. However, just days later, he signed another contract with

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

AC Ajaccio Athletic Club Ajaccien (), commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio, ACA or simply Ajaccio, is a French professional football club based in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and plays in the Ligue 2, the sec ...

and chose to join them instead. After playing four games for AC Ajaccio, Al-Arabi pleaded their case to

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

to regain the player and

ruled in their favour, forcing the player to join Al-Arabi.

Sivasspor

On 27 December 2009, the 23-year-old midfielder left Al-Kharitiyath to join

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

side

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since t ...

on a two-year contract.

Honours

ES Sétif *

: 2007 * Algerian League: 2007 Mali *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

bronze:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keita, Souleymane Footballers from Bamako Malian men's footballers Malian expatriate men's footballers AC Ajaccio players 1986 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Algeria Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa Malian expatriate sportspeople in Algeria ES Sétif players Djoliba AC players Al Jazira Club players Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players Al Kharaitiyat SC players Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. players Sivasspor footballers Ligue 2 players Süper Lig players Qatar Stars League players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players UAE Pro League players Mali men's international footballers 21st-century Malian sportsmen