Manu Koné will remember this summer of 2024 for a long time. Indeed, the former Toulouse Football Club player took part in the great epic of the French U23 team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Precious for his team and especially for Thierry Henry, the 23-year-old midfielder showed very interesting things during the tournament. Which did not escape AS Roma. Indeed, the Louve got their hands on the Olympic vice-champion during the summer transfer window. After several seasons at Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga, Koné therefore left to discover Serie A in the Italian capital. He also made his debut in his new colours during the match against Juventus (18 minutes played).
Koné has gained momentum
Two days before, he had experienced another highlight of his young career since he was selected for the first time in the French A team. He notably took advantage of the absence of Adrien Rabiot (without a club) to make a place for himself in Deschamps’ list. Enough to prolong Koné’s beautiful and crazy summer. A subject that he also mentioned at a press conference in Clairefontaine. “It was a very quick turning point. Everything happened quickly and I know that it’s a turning point in my career. I’m in the French team, I was transferred to Roma, it’s up to me to prove that I can stay. It’s a great pride to be called up to the A team, it’s a dream that I had in the short term.”
A dream come true. On Friday, the Colombes native came on as a substitute for Youssouf Fofana (58th) against Italy. Very committed, sometimes a little too much, the midfielder had a difficult first season. On Monday, he followed up with a first start against Belgium in the Nations League. Associated with N’Golo Kanté and Mattéo Guendouzi at the start, the Louve player was cautioned very quickly after a big foul on Onana, following a loss of the ball (4th, yellow card). But he didn’t go out of his game. Quite the opposite. Aggressive and always very involved, he stepped up and brought character and personality to the midfield. He dared and wasn’t impressed, while having little waste in the game.
He scored points
There FM Editorial also voted him man of the match and gave him a score of 7. The Frenchman also made a strong impression on his teammates, notably Mattéo Guendouzi. “He had a very good match. He helped us a lot in recovering the ball. He was very clean. I hope he doesn’t have that match during the Rome derby because we’re going to play against him soon. It bodes very well for the future. I think that individually, everyone was able to have a good match. So it’s really good for the team.”. Same story from Jules Koundé. “Very good. I found that he stepped up a gear. After a bit of a difficult start, he played a great match, both in recovery and in his orientations.”
He added: “There were some passes that were also well-felt. Really, he had a very good match.” Didier Deschamps is of the same opinion. “He made an entrance even though he was beaten very early on. For a defensive midfielder, it’s not ideal. It has to happen that way. If we were in qualifying, I might have done things differently. There are steps to take, especially in midfield where there are three players absent plus Warren (Zaire-Emery) who is injured. But that’s what he did.” Manu Koné, who scored points, ended his summer of 2024 in style.
