The midfielder for Leicester City earned his first start for the team since their relegation day last week, but it looks like his time at the King Power is coming to an end.
When Marc Albrighton was discussing Leicester City’s Premier League opener against Tottenham on talkSPORT, he mentioned that Conor Coady had informed him that Boubakary Soumare had been among the team’s best players during the summer.
However, that hasn’t converted into competitive game time for the French midfielder. Although he participated in the last 11 minutes of the game, he hasn’t been in any Premier League games since. His first appearance for City since the day they were relegated came last week when he was picked in the starting lineup for their Carabao Cup match at Walsall. Despite a lacklustre performance overall, he was unable to make an impression as he had supposedly done in training.
Since arriving at City in 2021, Soumare’s career has revolved around this idea. There has been much talk about how he excels in the gym but lacks consistency when playing.
There have been moments of brilliance, half-hour stretches in which he controlled the midfield with strength, energy, pace, and a passing sense. Additionally, he appeared to be gradually advancing towards regular, respectable performances in the autumn of 2022, but the World Cup derailed his development. Apart from that, though, his time at City has been characterised by performances in which he found it difficult to control the game and by instances in which he nodded off and lost his midfield runner.
While on loan at Sevilla the previous season, Soumare made a lot of plays and, despite the team’s lacklustre performance, established himself as a steady, dependable presence at the base of their midfield. There was much discussion about a long-term transfer to the team, but Sevilla had financial difficulties in closing a deal.
There was also interest from France and talk of a possible move to Monaco. Once more, that failed to materialise, so he remained at City until at least January. Talk of Sevilla returning for a loan move in the upcoming year has already begun.
Currently, Soumare isn’t even able to reach the Premier League bench, thus a January transfer seems plausible. There isn’t much indication that Soumare can salvage his career at City after more than three years in the league and with less than two years left on his King Power Stadium deal.
It doesn’t look like he will be able to receive the regular run of games he seems to need to catch up and start performing effectively at City. City, who are trying to win their first game, cannot afford for any of their players to struggle early on. That could be the reason the 25-year-old isn’t as popular as Hamza Choudhury, Oliver Skipp, Wilfred Ndidi, and Harry Winks.
Soumare will receive opportunities and be treated the same as every other member of the squad, according to manager Steve Cooper. It appears that only cup games or an injury crisis will provide him with a chance to play, though, given that he has reportedly performed well in training thus far but has not been able to translate it into playing time.
Cooper stated, “Bouba is a member of the group and has been waiting for an opportunity to play.” He was rumoured to be going during the transfer window, although some of that was beyond my control. Bouba is a big part of my commitment to the players we work with every day, as I mentioned throughout the transfer window.
Every participant has opportunities. Players earned the opportunity to play (against Walsall) based on their training methods. We’re a cohesive team, and I have faith in each and every player.
“Bouba is just like everyone else. Although I am aware that every player has a backstory, including past experiences, transfer fees, and age, we must handle each player as we currently perceive them, and Bouba is no different from the other players.
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