| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1994-12-26)26 December 1994 (age 31) | ||
| Place of birth | Anguededou Songon,Ivory Coast | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Pickering Town | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2011 | Siena | ||
| 2011–2013 | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013–2014 | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | (0) |
| 2013 | →Grosseto (loan) | 12 | (2) |
| 2014–2015 | Bari | 0 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | →Pistoiese (loan) | 25 | (3) |
| 2015–2016 | Peterborough United | 27 | (5) |
| 2016 | →Newport County (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 2016–2017 | Kilmarnock | 21 | (8) |
| 2017 | Al Ahly | 9 | (6) |
| 2018–2019 | Partick Thistle | 3 | (0) |
| 2019–2022 | Etoile SS | 36 | (14) |
| 2022–2023 | Karmiotissa | 29 | (3) |
| 2023–2024 | ES Sétif | 12 | (3) |
| 2024 | Nuova Florida | 0 | (0) |
| 2024 | Hull United | ||
| 2025– | Pickering Town | ||
| International career | |||
| 2011 | Ivory Coast U-17 | 4 | (9) |
| 2016 | Ivory Coast U-20 | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 11:00, 10 October 2024 (UTC) | |||
Souleymane Coulibaly (born 26 December 1994) is an Ivorian professionalfootballer who plays as astriker for English non-league clubPickering Town.
As a 13-year-old, Coulibaly emigrated to Italy to avoid conflict inIvory Coast.[1] He joined his father who had married an Italian woman.[2][3]
Soon after arriving in Italy, Coulibaly signed for Junior Camp Arezzo Football Academy, one of the best academies in Tuscany.[4] He played in the Allievi Regionali team and after a few months President Umberto Zerbini suggested his name toSiena.[5] In 2010–11 he played 10 games for the Siena under-19s, scoring once.
On 18 July 2011,Tottenham Hotspur confirmed they had signed Coulibaly following his golden boot-winning performance at theFIFA Under-17 World Cup.[6] He scored for the Tottenham Hotspur XI on his debut againstBrighton and Hove Albion in Algarve.
He scored twice in a 7–1 win for Spurs youth overInter Milan in their second group game of the NextGen Tournament on 31 August 2011. He also opened the scoring in their third group game away atPSV Eindhoven, where they won 2–1. On 22 December 2011, Coulibaly scored an injury-time winner againstStevenage in theFA Youth Cup, followed by a goal in a 2–1 victory overCardiff City in the fourth round on 11 January 2012. He made his first team debut as a 65th-minute substitute in a pre-season friendly against Stevenage on 18 July 2012.
On 25 January 2013, Coulibaly joined ItalianSerie B clubGrosseto on loan until the end of the season where he scored two goals from 12 appearances.[7]
In September 2014, Coulibaly was sold toBari and was immediately loaned toPistoiese.[8]
Coulibaly was revealed as aPeterborough United player after his trial at the club on 20 July 2015 along withAndrew Fox andKieran Sadlier. He started in five games for Peterborough, came on nine times as a substitute, and scored a total of eight goals.[9] On 24 March 2016, he joinedNewport County on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season. He made his Newport debut on 2 April 2016, starting in a win 1–0 defeat versusYeovil Town. He scored his first goal for the club on 23 April 2016 againstLuton Town.
After leavingPeterborough United it was confirmed in June 2016 that Coulibaly had signed forScottish Premiership sideKilmarnock.[10] He scored on his debut as Kilmarnock beatClyde 2–1 in theLeague Cup.[11] Coulibaly scored 11 goals in 26 appearances for Kilmarnock.[12]
After being in talks with two clubs based inCairo, Egypt,Al Ahly andZamalek,[13] Coulibaly chose to sign with reigning champions Al Ahly on a three-and-a-half-year contract on 24 January 2017. A transfer fee of £800,000 was paid to Kilmarnock.[12] On 25 May 2017, Coulibaly left Egypt and returned to the UK without telling anyone.[14] On 4 June 2017, Coulibaly posted on Twitter, saying that he had felt oppressed at Al Ahly and had left Egypt because he did not feel safe.[15] After the tweet other African players that played for Al Ahly said that they felt safe and happy, such asFlávio Amado who said "what Coulibaly said made him laugh".[16] Al-Ahly submitted a complaint toFIFA after Coulibaly left the club and requested compensation.[17][18] On 25 April 2018, a FIFA commission found against Coulibaly, ruling that a fine of $1,436,000 be awarded to Al Ahly.[19]
In August 2018, Coulibaly joinedScottish Championship sidePartick Thistle on a deal that is subject to international clearance.[20] TheEgyptian Football Association rejected a request for clearance,[21] but FIFA granted a temporary certificate instead in early October.[22] He was released by Partick Thistle in May 2019.[23]
In May 2019 he signed for Tunisian clubEtoile SS.[24]
On 19 August 2023, Coulibaly joinedES Sétif.[25] On 19 February 2024, he leftES Sétif.[26]
In October 2024 he appeared off the bench forHumber Premier League sideHull United versus Hornsea Town, replacing striker Alfie Lazenby. A week later he started his first game for the club in anEast Riding Senior Cup tie versusBridlington Town, who were three divisions above and the current holders of the cup. Coulibaly scored a 84th minute equaliser for The Citizens to set up a penalty shoot out, which United went on to win 4-5, Coulibaly also scoring one of them.[27]
Souleymane Coulibaly began his international career withIvory Coast national under-17 football team at the2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup where he scored ninegoals in four matches: one goal againstAustralia, a poker againstDenmark, and ahat-trick in a draw againstBrazil.[28][29][30] Coulibaly also scored a goal in a 2–3 loss toFrance in the Round of 16. He held the competition record for most goals scored in one tournament along with French strikerFlorent Sinama Pongolle (at the earlier held2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship), who did it in six matches rather than Coulibaly's four.[31] He scored nine of his side's ten goals overall, which meant that he scored every 40 minutes of match time, or slightly more than once per half played.[32][33][34][35] The record has since been broken by Nigerian strikerVictor Osimhen, who scored 10 goals in 7 games at the2015 World Cup.
As a result of his performances, Coulibaly was linked in the media to moves toManchester United andReal Madrid, before finally moving toTottenham.[36][37][38] He has been labelled the "New Drogba" by the media, in reference to fellow Ivorian footballerDidier Drogba.[39][40][41][42]
Coulibaly made one appearance for the Ivory Coast national under-21 football team, as they lost a friendly 5–1 toFrance.[43]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2012–13 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013–14 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Grosseto (loan) | 2012–13 | Serie B | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 12 | 2 | |
| Bari | 2014–15 | Serie B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Pistoiese (loan) | 2014–15 | Lega Pro | 25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 3 |
| Peterborough United | 2015–16 | League One | 27 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 32 | 5 |
| Newport County (loan) | 2015–16 | League Two | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Kilmarnock | 2016–17 | Scottish Premiership | 21 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | — | 26 | 11 | |
| Al Ahly | 2016–17[citation needed] | Egyptian Premier League | 9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[b] | 0 | 12 | 6 | |
| Partick Thistle | 2018–19 | Scottish Championship | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Etoile SS | 2019–20 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | 4[b] | 0 | 15 | 5 | |
| 2020–21 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle | 24 | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | 8[c] | 5 | 32 | 13 | ||
| 2021–22 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[b] | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Total | 36 | 14 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 6 | 51 | 20 | |||
| Karmiotissa | 2022–23 | Cypriot First Division | 29 | 3 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 31 | 5 | ||
| Career total | 168 | 42 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 6 | 199 | 53 | ||
