Over the years, Ligue 1 has been the home for some of the top African talents. More than 50 players will be representing their nation in the upcoming African Cup of Nations (AFCON). Some players have established themself at the top level, while others are making a name. One player who is getting into the headlines is 20-year-old Mali international, Kamory Doumbia.
Doumbia plays for Reims but is currently on loan at Brest. After failing to make an impact at the start of the season, Doumbia has finally found his feet at the new club. He got a chance to represent his country in September 2022 and has five goals in seven matches for his country. Let’s take a look at why Doumbia is highly rated and what his parent club can expect from him next season.
Creativity from the middle
Kamory Doumbia plays as an attacking midfielder and sometimes as a centre-midfielder. The youngster has made 12 appearances in the Ligue 1 but has only spent 421 minutes on the field. 60% of the time he has played as an attacking midfielder and the rest of the time he has featured in the middle of the park.
In the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons combined, the player has shown his versatility. Doumbia has featured more towards the left side and has made maximum ball progressions from that particular side.
Despite playing only 1,665 minutes in this season and last season combined, Doumbia has been very effective in recovering the ball in dangerous attacking areas. 29 recoveries have been made in the final third and a few of them have turned out to be dangerous recoveries. This recovery rate is on the higher side for any midfielder.
Scoring and creativity
In 26 appearances for Reims in the 2022-23 season, Kamory Doumbia netted two goals. He attempted 26 shots and 34.6% were on target. The shot map shows that most shots were attempted from outside the penalty box and targeted the right of the goalkeeper.
Before leaving for AFCON 2023, Doumbia scored four goals against Lorient and took his season’s tally to five goals. The Malian has a 70% accuracy this season and his xG per shot has improved a lot due to his positioning inside the penalty box.
Playing as a midfielder means that he should know how to create a goal or two for his teammates. Doumbia created two goals for Reims in 2022-23 and added two more assists to his name in the current season.
Last season, the youngster averaged around 37.7 passes per 90 minutes and 81.6% of passes were successfully delivered. This season, the average is 49.8 passes with an 88% accuracy rate.
Kamory Doumbia is fitting well into the squad and has shown a lot of promise. He scored a brace for his nation in an international friendly recently. Doumbia will look to make more contributions and will hope for some regular game time in the future.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine