Came in summer for 20m
Leicester City’s €20m newcomer Boubakary Soumaré has admitted to having trouble starting in the Premier League, which is new to him. The defensive midfielder won the French championship with LOSC Lille in the 2020/21 season before signing with the Foxes for five years.
“It’s true that it was difficult at the beginning,” Soumaré explained in an extensive interview “The Athletic”. “I’m still learning because it’s the biggest league in the world. You don’t just come here, snap your fingers and you’re strong.” The 23-year-old Frenchman has made 28 appearances (one assist) for his new club so far, but has only started 11 times in the English top flight.
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“You have to be patient, be determined and believe in yourself because I know what I can do and what I’ve already achieved. I can do it again here, but it takes work and time,” said Soumaré, who spoke of “more pressure and key moments” at Leicester. The midfielder, trained at Paris Saint-Germain, switched to Lille on a free transfer in 2017 – even though he didn’t actually want to leave the capital club. But he did it for his career.
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“It was difficult in that I’m 100 percent Parisian. I have always lived east of Paris, I was born, grew up and still live there. I’ve lived there all my life, I’m a boy from Paris, a real Parisian. I would have liked to have played for my youth club, which means everything to me,” admitted Soumaré. “But I’ve always said I’ll go where I have to go. There is no exact way. If I went to Lille it was only because I had to, and I managed that quite well.”
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