U.S. Sassuolo Calcio announces the signing, from Olympique Marseille, on loan with option to buy – that becomes an obligation under certain conditions – of the player Ismaël Koné (midfielder, 2002).

Born in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Ismaël moved to Montreal at the age of 7 and immediately started playing for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Panthers, until he was noticed by CS Saint-Laurent, where he won the bronze medal in the Under-17 championship. After a few trials with two Belgian clubs, due to the Covid pandemic he returned to Canada to train with the CF Montreal Under 23 team, earning the call in the first team in 2021.

He scored on the day of his debut with Montreal in the CONCACAF Champions League in February 2022, and during the year he caught the attention of some English clubs. After 32 appearances, 4 goals and 5 assists, he was bought by Watford in December : he debuted in January 2023 in the FA Cup and scored his first goal in a 3-2 victory against Norwich. In June 2024, after 63 appearances, 4 goals and 4 assists with the yellow-and-black jersey, Marseille came forward: Koné arrived in France, wore the blue-and-white jersey 9 times and he moved to Rennes, on loan, during the January transfer window, where he found more continuity (13 appearances), as well as two goals and one assist. A giugno 2024, collezionate 63 presenze, 4 reti e 4 assist con la maglia giallonera, si fa avanti il Marsiglia: Koné approda in Francia, veste la maglia biancazzurra 9 volte e nel mercato di gennaio passa in prestito al Rennes, dove trova più continuità (13 presenze), oltre a due marcature e un assist.

Both Côte d’Ivoire and Canada could call him up, but its the latter who summoned Ismaël for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, in which he made his debut. Two days after scoring his first goal in a friendly against Bahrain, Koné is added to the team for Qatar 2022, where he played in all three group stage matches. In June 2023 he played in the CONCACAF Nations League Finals, finding the net against Jamaica, and the following year in the Copa America and then again in the Finals and the Gold Cup, with a total of 31 appearances with the Canadian national team with also 3 goals.

From the whole black&green family, welcome Ismaël!