Krasnodar fans on Kouassi Eboue

Our man Zbyszek joined a Krasnodar fan website last night to ask about Celtic signing target, Kouassi Eboue, from Ivory Coast. Here are some of the comments he got back:

“He has good technical skills, is fast and is good in the air. He’s shown to be comfortable in hard, dirty, games. At 19-years-old, he needs a good coach for his next step forward. I think the guy has a wonderful future ahead of him (or I know nothing about the game).”

Zbyszek asked why Krasnodar are selling Eboue:

“Krasnodar have a Financial Fair Play axe hanging over their heads. They have no money to strengthen the team and are in debt. They are also limited in the number of foreigners they have have in the squad.”

Eboue gave a recent interview to a Russian newspaper where he said:

“I’m always ready to play whichever position the coach things best, whether as a defensive midfielder or in the attacking zone. I feel I can grow as a player by becoming more involved in the attacking game, my coaching now concentrates more on this part of play.”

Kouassi grew up in a poor village near Dabou, in Ivory Coast. He first kicked a football at 5 and was invited to a local academy at 10. By 15 he received his first invitation abroad – Armenia, where he moved three years ago.

Krasnodar coach, Oleg Kononov, took an interest in Eboue, who trained with the club for a few weeks before making the move ro Russia formal in May 2014.

The player turned 19 less than a month ago, so his rise to an established first-team player in the Russian Premier League has been rapid. This has been a challenging deal for Celtic, a lot more so than scouting the best breaking through at Tannadice.