Ismael Doukouré (21) is a key member at RC Strasbourg Alsace, but for the past two summers, he has wanted to leave the club, as he told L’Équipe.
Doukouré had been expected to leave Strasbourg in the summer of 2023, before the arrival of Chelsea owners BlueCo changed the situation. It was at that moment that RCSA adopted a new youth-centric strategy, and selling one of their most promising prospects was not on the agenda. “Once BlueCo arrived, the sales strategy changed,” said the RCSA midfielder.
However, at the end of last season, there was once again a similar situation, as Doukouré told L’Équipe. “I wanted to leave during two transfer windows. I wanted to progress more, in another league,” he said. Whilst Doukouré did not extend his contract, as Les Alsaciens had wanted ahead of the 2023/24 season, he did at least remain, with then-manager Patrick Vieira and the hierarchy “finding the right words” to convince him to stay.
Amid interest from Wolfsburg, Doukouré once again wished to depart this summer but once again, that request was blocked. Behdad Eghbali played a role in keeping the midfielder at the club. As a result, Doukouré was once again re-integrated into the set-up, and once again, he is playing an important role at Strasbourg.
“The transfer window ended, the season started and I didn’t have the time to ask myself ‘Should I have done this or that’. Once I understood that I was staying, I didn’t get worked up. There was no awkwardness when I was reintegrated,” he said. Doukouré’s current deal with Strasbourg runs until the summer of 2026, meaning that a decision, either a renewal or a departure, will have to be taken at the end of the current campaign.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
