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With Canada, Ismaël Koné has already become an essential part of the starting eleven.
Photo : AP / Julio Cortez
Posted at 5:39 p.m. EDT
Quebec midfielder Ismaël Koné will now play for Olympique de Marseille in the French Ligue 1, the French club announced on Friday.
Olympique de Marseille and Watford FC, in the English Championship, announced that they have reached an agreement in principle for the rights of the Canadian player. The transfer, conditional on medical tests scheduled for next week, is valued at around CA$20 million according to various media outlets.
The midfielder has signed a 5-year contract with Olympique de Marseille.
Koné, 22, is currently participating in the Copa América with Canada, where he was in the starting eleven in the first two games of the maple leaf, against Argentina and Peru. He played 21 games with the maple leaf.
Born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and raised in Montreal, Koné joined Watford in December 2022, after one season with CF Montreal, for a transfer worth CA$7 million. In 63 games over two seasons with Watford, he has scored 4 goals and 4 assists.
Koné becomes the fourth Canadian to join Ligue 1, after Ostap Steckiw (Nice, 1948-1950), Iké Ugbo (Troyes, 2022) and striker Jonathan David, who has been playing with Lille since 2020.
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