Cheikhou Kouyaté

Cheikhou Kouyaté

Kouyaté with Anderlecht in 2011
Personal information
Full name Cheikhou Kouyaté
Date of birth (1989-12-21) 21 December 1989
Place of birth Dakar, Senegal
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Playing position Midfielder / Defender
Club information
Current team
 West Ham United
Number 8
Youth career
1996–2006 ASC Yego Dakar
2006–2007 RWDM Brussels
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2007–2008 RWDM Brussels 10 (0)
2008–2014 Anderlecht 153 (4)
2008–2009 → Kortrijk (loan) 26 (3)
2014– West Ham United 62 (9)
National team‡
2007 Senegal U20 3 (2)
2012 Senegal Olympic 4 (0)
2012– Senegal 24 (2)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:47, 30 April 2016 (UTC).
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:46, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

Cheikhou Kouyaté (born 21 December 1989) is a Senegalese footballer who plays as a central midfielder for English club West Ham United.

Kouyaté moved from Senegal to Belgium in 2006, having been offered a youth contract at RWDM Brussels. After breaking in to the first team, he went on to play just ten appearances before moving to Anderlecht aged 19. In June 2014, he joined West Ham of the Premier League. He represented the Senegal national team at the 2012 Olympics.

Career

Kouyaté praying before a West Ham match, 2014

Early career

Kouyaté began his footballing career in 1996 in his hometown with ASC Yego Dakar and was scouted by RWDM Brussels in September 2006. RWDM Brussels then signed the player in January the following year.[2] He went on to play ten league appearances for the first team between 2007 and 2008.[3]

Anderlecht

As Kouyaté turned 19, he left Brussels because his former employers did not pay him three months' worth of wages. He subsequently moved to Belgian rivals Anderlecht on a four-year deal for a free transfer.[4] Kouyaté went on to make 153 league appearances for Anderlecht, scoring four goals in five seasons at the club. He won the 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13 and 2013–14 league titles as well as the 2010–11, 2012–13 and 2013–14 Belgian Super Cups.[3][5]

West Ham United

2014–15

On 18 June 2014, Kouyaté signed for West Ham United on a four-year contract.[6] He made his West Ham debut on 16 August 2014 in a 1–0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. His performance was described as "impressive" by the BBC.[7] The following week, manager Sam Allardyce compared him to ex-Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira.[8] On 28 December, Kouyaté scored his first West Ham goal in a 1–2 defeat to Arsenal.[9] His second goal of the season came on 8 February 2015 in a 1–1 draw with Manchester United. His performance in the game won praise from manager Allardyce for Kouyaté's Man of the Match performance which was also singled out as the Individual Performance of the Season, by a West Ham player, at the clubs' annual awards.[10][11] He scored two further goals in the season, in a 2–2 away draw with Tottenham and in a 2–1 away defeat to Leicester City.[12][13] Kouyaté finished the season having played 31 out of a possible 38 Premier League games.[14]

2015–16

On 9 August 2015, Kouyaté scored the opening goal in the 43rd minute in a 2–0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.[15] He then scored in a 4–3 home defeat to AFC Bournemouth on 22 August.[16] He scored his third goal of the season in a 2–2 draw with Norwich City on 26 September, netting the equalizer in the 90th minute to rescue a point for West Ham. [17] In March 2016, Kouyate signed a new, five-year contract with West Ham that could keep him at the club until 2021.[18] Kouyaté was sent-off twice during the 2015-16 season and on both occasions had the card rescinded by The Football Association (FA). On 21 February, he was dismissed by referee Jonathan Moss in a 5–1 FA Cup win at Blackburn Rovers, only for the card to be rescinded a few days later.[19][20] On 2 April, he was dismissed in a Premier League game at the Boleyn Ground against Crystal Palace by referee Mark Clattenburg. This too, however, was overturned a few days later.[21]

International career

Kouyaté was called up aged 18 to the Senegal under-20s in the same year as his RWDM Brussels debut. He scored two goals in just three games for the side in 2007.

In February 2012, Kouyaté was called up to the Senegal senior team. He has currently made 11 caps. In the same year, he was announced to be in the squad for Senegal Olympic football team. He played in every game as Senegal's debut appearance in the tournament ended in a knockout in the quarter-final. In January 2015, he was a member of Senegal's squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, held in Equatorial Guinea.[22]

Career statistics

As of 30 April 2016[23][24]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
RWDM Brussels 2007–08 Belgian First Division 10000——100
Total 10000——100
Anderlecht 2009–10 Belgian Pro League 21131—90332
2010–11 Belgian Pro League 23120—80331
2011–12 Belgian Pro League 38000—100480
2012–13 Belgian Pro League 33140—80451
2013–14 Belgian Pro League 38120—70471
Total 1534111—4202065
Kortrijk (loan) 2008–09 Belgian First Division 26300—00263
Total 26300—00263
West Ham United 2014–15 Premier League 3141000—324
2015–16 315501020385
Total 629501020709
Career total 251161711044031217

References

  1. ↑ "Premier League Player Profile Cheikhou Kouyaté". Premier League. Barclays Premier League. 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  2. ↑ FC BRUSSELS Players on www.rwdm-brussels.be
  3. 1 2 "CHEIKHOU KOUYATE". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Cheikhou Kouyaté moet van de rechter naar Anderlecht on www.nieuwsblad.be
  5. ↑ Cheikhou Kouyaté profile at Soccerway
  6. ↑ Hammers complete Kouyate transfer on www.whufc.com
  7. ↑ Rose, Gary (16 August 2014). "West Ham United 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Sam Allardyce: When I look at West Ham signing Cheikhou Kouyate I see Patrick Vieira". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "West Ham United 1–2 Arsenal". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Allardyce singles out West Ham star for special praise after Manchester United draw". www.london24.com. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Kouyate's vote of thanks". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "Tottenham 2–2 West Ham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  13. ↑ "Leicester City 2-1 West Ham United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  14. ↑ "Games played by Cheilhou Kouyate in season 2014–15". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  15. ↑ Osborne, Chris (9 August 2015). "Arsenal 0-2 West Ham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  16. ↑ "West Ham United 3 - 4 AFC Bournemouth Match report - 22/08/2015 Premier League — Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  17. ↑ "West Ham United 2-2 Norwich City". BBC. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  18. ↑ "Cheik’s in for five more years!". www.whufc.com. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  19. ↑ "Blackburn 1-5 West Ham United". BBC Sport. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  20. ↑ "Kouyate red card rescinded". www.whufc.com. 23 February 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  21. ↑ "West Ham: Cheikhou Kouyate red card rescinded by FA". BBC Sport. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  22. ↑ "Senegal off to the perfect start". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  23. ↑ "C. KOUYATÉ". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  24. ↑ "Cheikhou Kouyaté". Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 June 2015.

External links

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