Yacouba Sylla

Yacouba Sylla

Sylla with Rennes in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Yacouba Sylla[1]
Date of birth	(1990-11-29) 29 November 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth	Étampes, France
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Virton
Youth career
1995–2002	Étampes
2002–2006	CSF Brétigny
2006–2007	Montferrand
2007–2008	Malesherbes
2008–2009	Caen
2009–2010	Clermont
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2013	Clermont	65	(0)
2013–2015	Aston Villa	22	(0)
2014–2015	→ Kayseri Erciyesspor (loan)	27	(1)
2015–2018	Rennes	20	(0)
2016–2017	→ Montpellier (loan)	19	(1)
2017	→ Panathinaikos (loan)	9	(0)
2018–2019	Mechelen	12	(0)
2019	Strømsgodset	10	(1)
2019–2020	CFR Cluj	4	(0)
2020–2021	MC Oujda	5	(0)
2022	Bastia	7	(0)
2022–2023	Botoșani	15	(0)
2023–2023	Virton	3	(0)
International career^‡
2011	France U21	1	(0)
2013–2017	Mali	35	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 June 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 September 2017

Yacouba Sylla (born 29 November 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. He is currently a free agent. Born in France, he represented France as a youth international before switching to Mali at senior level.^[2]

Club career

Youth career

Prior to joining Clermont, where Sylla signed his first professional contract, he had a year's stint with Ligue 1 club Caen. Before that, Sylla had started his career with hometown Parisian club Étampes FC, before joining nearby club CSF Brétigny, which produced France internationals Patrice Evra and Jimmy Briand. After four years in Brétigny, Sylla spent the next four years roaming around clubs in the Lower Normandy region such as Montferrand, Malesherbes, and Caen.^[3] And then in 2009, he signed an amateur contract with Clermont where he was inserted into Clermont's reserve team for the 2009–10 season. He appeared in 17 matches scoring one goal.^[4]

Clermont

For the 2010–11 season, Sylla was promoted to the senior team by manager Michel Der Zakarian. He made his professional debut on 15 October 2010 in a league match against Le Mans playing the entire match in a 2–0 defeat.^[5] Sylla subsequently appeared as a starter in the team's next seven matches. His performances domestically led to interest from German club VfB Stuttgart and Italian club Udinese.^[6] In order to decrease the interest Clermont signed Sylla to his first professional contract, which ran from 22 November 2010 until June 2014.^[7][8]

Aston Villa

On 31 January 2013, Aston Villa completed the signing of Sylla on a three-and-a-half-year deal, subject to international clearance, after passing a medical.^[9]

Loan to Kayseri Erciyesspor

On 14 July 2014, Sylla joined Turkish Super Lig club Kayseri Erciyesspor on a season-long loan.^[10]

Rennes

On 22 June 2015, Sylla joined Rennes on a four-year deal, after two years at Aston Villa where he made only 22 league appearances.^[11]

Loan to Panathinaikos

On 30 August 2017, Panathinaikos officially announced the signing of Malian international defensive midfielder Yacouba Sylla. He joined the Greens on loan from Rennes until the end of 2017–18 season and was the 10th summer signing of the Athens club.^[12]

Mechelen

On 17 January 2018, Sylla signed a contract with YR KV Mechelen until 2021. He leaves Rennes after having been on loan at Panathinaikos since the end of August.^[13]

Strømsgodset

On 1 March 2019, Sylla signed a contract until the end of the 2020 season with Norwegian club Strømsgodset Toppfotball.^[14][15] On 19 May, Sylla scored his first and only goal for the Norwegians, in a 3–1 win against Tromsø IL.

CFR Cluj

On 1 July 2019, he signed a three-year contract with CFR Cluj, Romanian champions.^[16]

Mouloudia

On 27 October 2020, Sylla joined Botola side MC Oudja on a two-year deal.^[17]

Bastia

On 13 December 2021, Sylla signed for Ligue 2 side Bastia on a contract until the end of the season.^[18]

Botoșani

On 26 July 2022, Sylla joined Botoșani in Romania with a one-year contract with an option to extend.^[19]

International career

France

Sylla was born in France but has Malian heritage, which meant that he was eligible to represent either France or Mali. He made one appearance for France's under-21 team on 24 March 2011, in a 3–2 friendly victory over Spain. Sylla was a late substitute for Antoine Griezmann and played the final few minutes of the game.

Mali

Following his move to Aston Villa and positive form towards the end to the 2012–13 season, Sylla was called up to represent Mali for the first time. He first played in an unofficial friendly against the national team of Brittany, France, a side not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA on 28 May 2013. Mali lost 1–0.^[20][21]

Sylla's official, full international début for Mali came on 9 June 2012 in a 1–1 FIFA World Cup qualification draw with Rwanda. Sylla replaced Wolverhampton Wanderers player Tongo Doumbia in the 70th minute.^[22] Sylla started and played the full 90 minutes in Mali's 2–2 draw with Benin seven days later, but Mali were unfortunately eliminated from the competition.

In January 2015, he participated with the Mali in his first ever 2015 African Cup of Nations. After three scoreless matches at the end of the first round, Mali emerged from the competition at the expense of a draw favourable to the Guinea.

Personal life

Sylla is the older brother of the France youth international Moussa Sylla.^[23]

Career statistics

Club

As of 8 December 2022^[24][25]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Clermont	2010–11	Ligue 2	20	0	1	0	0	0	—		21	0
	2011–12	Ligue 2	24	0	2	0	1	0	—		27	0
	2012–13	Ligue 2	21	0	0	0	2	0	—		23	0
	Total		65	0	3	0	3	0	0	0	71	0
Aston Villa	2012–13	Premier League	11	0	0	0	0	0	—		11	0
	2013–14	Premier League	11	0	1	0	2	0	—		14	0
	Total		22	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	25	0
Kayseri Erciyesspor (loan)	2014–15	Süper Lig	27	1	0	0	—		—		27	1
Rennes	2015–16	Ligue 1	20	0	1	0	2	0	—		23	0
Montpellier (loan)	2016–17	Ligue 1	19	1	0	0	1	0	—		20	1
Panathinaikos (loan)	2017–18	Super League Greece	9	0	2	0	—		—		11	0
Mechelen	2017–18	Jupiler Pro League	9	0	—		—		—		9	0
	2018–19	Proximus League	3	0	1	0	—		—		4	0
	Total		12	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
Strømsgodset	2019	Eliteserien	10	1	0	0	—		—		10	1
CFR Cluj	2019–20	Liga I	4	0	0	0	—		1[a]	0	5	0
MC Oujda	2020–21	Botola	5	0	0	0	—		—		5	0
Bastia	2021–22	Ligue 2	7	0	1	0	—		—		8	0
Botoșani	2022–23	Liga I	15	0	1	0	—		—		16	0
Virton	2022–23	Challenger Pro League	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
Career total			215	3	10	0	8	0	1	0	234	3

1. Appearance in UEFA Champions League

International

As of matches played on 5 September 2017^[26]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Mali	2013	4	0
	2014	6	0
	2015	12	0
	2016	6	0
	2017	7	0
Total		35	0

Honours

CFR Cluj

• Liga I: 2019–20
• Supercupa României runner-up: 2019

References

1. "Barclays Premier League Squad Numbers 2013/14". Premier League. 16 August 2013. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
2. Yacouba Sylla (Rennes) prêté à Montpellier (officiel)‚ 25 August 2016
3. "Yacouba Sylla" (in French). SM Caen Jeunes. 28 July 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
4. "Yacouba Sylla Profile" (in French). Foot-National. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
5. "Le Mans v. Clermont Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 15 October 2010. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
6. "La révélation Yacouba Sylla pisté par Stuttgart et l'Udinese" (in French). FootMercato. 12 November 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
7. "Yacouba Sylla passe pro" (in French). Clermont Foot. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
8. "Y.Sylla passe pro" (in French). Mercato365. 22 November 2010. Archived from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
9. "Sylla thrilled to join "dynamic and exciting young team"". Aston Villa F.C. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
10. "Yacouba Sylla joins Turkish side Kayseri Erciyesspor on loan". BBC Sport. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
11. "Yacouba Sylla joined Stade Rennais FC". Stade Rennais FC. 22 June 2015.
12. "Στον Παναθηναϊκό κι επίσημα ο Σιλά". www.gazzetta.gr. 30 August 2017.
13. "Yacouba Sylla joins YR KV Mechelen". KV Mechelen. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
14. "Yacouba Sylla joins Strømsgodset Toppfotball". Strømsgodset IF. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
15. Okeleji, Oluwashina (2 March 2019). "Yacouba Sylla: Mali captain moves to Norway". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
16. CFR a transferat un jucător care a evoluat la Aston Villa. Cât a plătit campioana și ce salariu va primi jucătorul. digisport.ro (in Romanian)
17. "Le MCO s'offre les services d'un ancien d'Aston Villa". sport.le360.ma (in French). 27 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
18. "Yacouba Sylla rejoint le Sporting" [Yacouba Sylla joins the Sporting]. Spiritu-Turchinu (in French). 13 December 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
19. "Bine ai venit, Yacouba Sylla!" (in Romanian). Botoșani. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
20. "Big names back for Brittany ahead of Mali encounter". NonFIFAFootball.blogspot.co.uk. 27 May 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
21. "It was Brittany 1–0 Mali in a very wet Carquefou..." Guy Pakeman (@guypakeman) via Twitter. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
22. "Mali 1–1 Rwanda". Yahoo! UK & Ireland / Eurosport. 9 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
23. "AS MONACO : Moussa Sylla, le jeune frère de Yacouba Sylla signe son premier contrat pro avec le club de la principauté". 10 February 2017. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
24. "Yacouba Sylla". Soccerbase. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
25. "Yacouba Sylla". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
26. Yacouba Sylla at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

• Yacouba Sylla at Soccerbase
• Yacouba Sylla – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)