Ligue 1 side Metz have announced the signing of Boubakar Kouyate from French second division club Troyes.
The Mali international signed a four-year deal with the Maroons after undergoing a successful medical with the club.
Kouyate teamed up with Troyes in January 2019 and delivered impressive performances, helping them to finish fourth on the Ligue 2 table.
The centre-back scored five goals for the Stade de l'Aube outfit to emerge as the club’s top-scorer of the campaign and earned a spot in L'Equipe's Ligue 2 team of the season.
His performances saw him linked to Championship side Nottingham Forest before he settled for the Maroons.
Next Match
“It is with great pleasure that I join FC Metz. They are really a good Ligue 1 club and I am convinced that my arrival in Moselle will allow me to continue to improve,“ Kouyate told the club website .
Kouyate also revealed how his compatriot Mamadou Fofana influenced his decision to team up with the Stade de l'Aube outfit.
“Before coming here, I spoke with Mamadou [Fofana] and I had only good feedback," he added.
Kouyate started his career with Malian side EFC Medine Bamako in 2013, where he spent two seasons before joining Moroccan club Kawkab Marrakech.
The centre-back then moved to Europe to continue his development, joining Portuguese giants Sporting CP in the summer of 2016.
Kouyate made 45 league appearances for Sporting B team before he signed for Troyes in 2019 to end his three-year stay with the club.
The 23-year-old was part of Mali side that reached the semi-final of the 2015 U-20 World Cup and made his debut for the senior national team against Morocco in September 2017.
Kouyate has five caps for the Eagles and was part of the West African team that featured at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
The defender will hope to continue his impressive performances at club level, this time with Metz, to boost his regular call-up to the national team.
