Mamadou Tounkara

I will say, Mamadou Tounkara was very impressive during last week’s match. Coming into the match early on, Tounkara helped score and not for an offside, he would’ve had a brace. The former La Masia striker now has a great Cittadella career in front of him.

Tounkara was born on January 19, 1996 in Blanes, Spain from Senegalese parents. Starting in 2009, he started playing at the famous Barcelona academy, La Masia. During his time there, Spanish football was at its peak, with FC Barcelona winning the Champions League in 2009, Spain winning the World Cup in 2010, and the top three picks for the Ballon D’Or came through La Masia.

Injuries were a problem for Mamadou, and Barcelona lost patience in 2012. They sold Tounkara to Lazio in the capital of Italy. He was also called up to represent the Spanish U17 team, but never made an appearance.

With Lazio’s Primavera, Tounkara scored in the Campionato Primavera Fase Finale, winning 3-0 against Atalanta. He was a main starter for Lazio’s attack, and in 2014 the U19’s won the Coppa Italia Primavera, with Tounkara playing the whole game. His performances weren’t going unnoticed, and was soon in action for the senior squad. Tounkara made his professional debut on May 18, 2014 when he came on in the 81st minute against Bologna.

His time at Lazio couldn’t have been better. A year later, he won the Supercoppa Primavera as well as another Coppa Italia Primavera, coming back from 1-0 down against Roma. Tounkara was loaned to Crotone for the start of the 15/16 season. In just his fifth game of the season, he scored his first professional goal against Bari in a 4-1 win. After his half season loan ended in January, Tounkara was sent out on loan again to Salernitana. Unfortunately for Mamadou, he only made three appearances since he joined on loan.

Tounkara came back to Lazio in 2016. He only made one appearance in a year and a half, and in the winter of 2018 another loan was much needed for the young striker. His next destination was in Albania, with Flamurtari FC. In the first division of Albania, Tounkara had seven games with the club, as well as one assist. It was not enough for the Albanian club to be convinced, and was sent back to Lazio that summer.

Out on loan for half a season, this time Tounkara landed in Switzerland with FC Schaffhausen, in the second division of Swiss football. Once again it was a rough patch for Mamadou, only scoring once in one game. For the remainder of the season, another loan saw him at Michalovce in Slovakia. In the final championship round, Michalovce were not able to catch up with the pack, and eventually did not qualify for European football. His time in Slovakia were wrapped by two goals in 10 total appearances.

In 2019, Tounkara left Lazio and joined Viterbese. After seven years with the club, the striker said goodbye to the club that raised him well and that put him into the professional world. In Tounkara’s first three Serie C games with Viterbese, he scored four goals. It ended up being a great season for the Spaniard, as he scored 9 goals and 2 assists up until the league pause.

Tounkara seemed to have finally hit his strides he was doing so well at during his time at Lazio. In the 2020/21 season, he tallied up 7 goals and 4 assists in 28 games. Despite finishing mid table, Cittadella saw his performances throughout his time at Viterbese. The Venetian club signed Mamadou in mid July. In the first game of the season, Tounkara came off the bench to score the second goal against Monza, his first for the Granata. He showed great potential, and we can’t wait to see him throughout the season!