Soumaoro’s career

The seventh French player in Bologna’s history, Adama is a physically imposing right-footed central defender. He is brilliant in the air, marks well and is very quick. He impressed in his first spell in Italian football, spending last season with Genoa. Soumaoro developed at Lille, making his professional debut as a 19-year-old with the club’s second team, before taking the step up to the Ligue 1 squad.

He has played consistently since 2015, and even made appearances in the Europa League and played once in the Champions League, captaining Les Dogues against Valencia in November 2019. He went to Liguria on loan a year ago before returning to the French club where, in the first few months of the season, he has played twice in the Europa League and three times in Ligue 1. He now joins Bologna in January 2021 on loan, after playing 122 games and scoring four goals for Lille, the club alongside which he has developed rapidly in recent years as they returned to the pinnacle of French football and featured on an international stage.