Fodé Ballo-Touré
Position: Left-back
Age: 25 (born January 3, 1997)
Shirt number: 5
Country: Senegal (13 caps, 0 goals since 2021)
At AC Milan since: 2021
Born in France, the Senegal international had become a second option at left-back behind Theo Hernandez but played his role well into his debut campaign with the Rossoneri when given a chance by Stefano Pioli.
Apart from his usual position, Ballo-Touré can come up in the left-sided midfield when needed, supplying crosses to the box for their target man to pounce.
A graduate of the Paris Saint-Germain Academy, he began his career with Lille in 2017, debuting in their season-opening win over Nantes where he started and played the entire first half. Ballo-Touré has appeared 46 more times in all competitions for the Ligue 1 side, joining Monaco in the middle of the 2018-19 season on €11 million as one of the signings by Thierry Henry.
In the principality, he had endured a roller-coaster ride whilst retaining his starting spot owing to multiple managerial changes, having to stave off relegation by the skin of their teeth, and retained it on his first full season (2019-20) that was interrupted by the pandemic. But in the 2020-21 season, he was dislodged by Caio Henrique, which saw him limited to just six starts.
Overall, Ballo-Touré played 74 matches for AS Monaco (63 in the league) before he was snapped up by AC Milan in a €4 million bargain buy), signing a deal until 2025.
At the San Siro, Ballo-Touré made the most of his 12 appearances with the club in all competitions, starting in half of those as Milan won the Scudetto on his debut season.
Internationally, Ballo-Touré had 13 caps for the Lions of Teranga, as he was part of the Aliou Cissé’s side that won their maiden African title, and subsequently was on the bench too for their World Cup return, both of which came at the expense of Egypt.