The 2024 summer transfer period is already casting its shadow. There will also be a lot to report about the SK Rapid – and now also from the region outside the box. According to one Turkish scout working in Africa Rapid is said to be interested in a Malian U17 national player.
For a long time, “Salzburg-style” scouting on other continents was not an issue at SK Rapid, but recently the Hütteldorfers have been breaking new ground in this area too. With the 20-year-old Senegalese Mouhamed Guèye, Rapid signed a West African talent for the second team in the summer. The Malian Ousmane Thiero could follow next summer.
The evil golden generation
The 181cm tall eight-man celebrates his 18th birthday today and currently plays for the Malian top club AS Real Bamako. Thiero is always deployed in the central midfield and is considered in his homeland as a busy number eight who can particularly score points with his energetic winning of the ball.
Thiero was part of the Malian U17 national team, which finished fourth at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Thiero also took part in the U17 World Cup six months later and played six of seven games – but only one from the start. He also scored in the 5-1 group win over Canada. Mali came sensationally third in the World Cup, but Thiero was more of one of the first substitutes than a team supporter. The only defeats for Mali were in the preliminary round against Spain (0:1) and in the semi-final against France (1:2).
West Africa’s youngsters are very popular
Also due to FIFA regulations for young footballers, Mali’s U17 team did not have any legionnaires in its ranks. The strong youngsters from West Africa are of course a pool in which many big clubs are fishing – including Red Bull Salzburg, which is said to be interested in two of Thiero’s U17 teammates. With Barcelona, Reims, Leverkusen and Watford, international clubs are also interested in some of Mali’s top players from the successful U17 World Cup.
Rumor should be treated with caution for now
However, it is difficult to assess what exactly is true about the Thiero rumor. Recently, Rapid was more known for inviting young talents from other parts of the world to test training in advance, which is more difficult in this phase of the championship than in summer preparation. Accordingly, Ousmane Thiero could also be name-dropping, although the frequency with which potential African talents are reported at Rapid is becoming ever higher due to broader scouting. It’s clear that you shouldn’t expect a quick decision when it comes to Thiero’s personnel – although it wouldn’t be surprising if the supposed interest hardens. At least people in Hütteldorf now saw that successful relocation is not an impossible task.