Seydou Keita (footballer)

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Seydou Keita
Personal information
Full name Seydou Keita
Date of birth January 16, 1980 (1980-01-16) (age 28)
Place of birth    Bamako, Mali
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current club FC Barcelona
Number TBD
Youth clubs
 ????-1997
1997-1999		 Centre Salif Keita
Olympique Marseille
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1999-2000
2000-2002
2002-2007
2007-2008
2008-		 Olympique Marseille
FC Lorient
RC Lens
Sevilla FC
FC Barcelona		 006 0(0)
058 0(1)
156 (19)
031 0(4)
000 0(0)   
National team2
2003- Mali 020 0(3)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of May 24, 2008.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of November 30, 2006.
* Appearances (Goals)

Seydou Keita (born January 16, 1980 in Bamako) is a half somalian and half Malian football midfielder currently playing for FC Barcelona. Keita is the nephew of former African Footballer of the Year Salif Keïta[1]. Seydou's cousin, Mohamed Sissoko, is also a professional player. Both Seydou and Sissoko play similar roles as hard-tackling central defensive midfielders, just like Salif did.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Olympique Marseille

Keita made his senior debut for Olympique Marseille in September 1999, but shortly afterwards he transferred to FC Lorient.

[edit] FC Lorient

It was at Lorient where Keita became a much-wanted footballer, scoring 1 goal in 58 appearances from defensive midfield.

[edit] RC Lens

After two years playing for Lorient, Keita moved to RC Lens, eventually working his way up to the captain's role. He started to score more goals from defensive midfield for Lens; in his four seasons at Lens he made 156 league appearances and scored 19 goals.

[edit] Sevilla

On July 11, 2007, Lens sold their captain after Keita reached an agreement with Sevilla for the next four seasons. This was a very successful season for Keita and in 31 league games for Sevilla he scored 4 goals, putting a lot of top European clubs in the market for him.

[edit] Barcelona

On Monday, May 26, 2008, Keita signed a 4-year contract with FC Barcelona with a €90 million buy-out clause.[2] Barcelona are believed to have paid Keita's buy-out clause of €14 million to Sevilla FC. Keita is also the very first Malian to play for FC Barcelona.

[edit] International

On the international scene, he has played numerous matches for Mali national team. He is regarded as one of the most skillful African central midfielders for his passing, control, vision, and shooting skills.

[edit] Honours and awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sissoko: Quiero llegar a ser como Viera. Ciberche. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
  2. ^ Keita is now a Barça player fcbarcelona.cat (accessed June 7, 2008)

[edit] External links

v • d • e
FC Barcelona – current squad

1 V. Valdés • 3 Milito • 4 Márquez • 5 Puyol • 6 Xavi • 7 Guðjohnsen • 8 Iniesta • 9 Eto'o • 10 Ronaldinho • 13 Pinto • 14 Henry • 16 Sylvinho • 18 Ezquerro • 19 Messi • 20 Deco • 21 Thuram • 22 Abidal • 23 Oleguer • 24 Touré Yaya • 25 Jorquera • 27 Bojan • –– Cáceres • –– Keita • –– Piqué • Coach: Guardiola
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