Frédéric Kanouté

Who is Frédéric Kanouté?

Frédéric Oumar Kanouté is a retired Malian professional footballer who played for several top-tier clubs within UEFA, enjoying his greatest success with La Liga side Sevilla FC. Kanouté was named the 2007 African Footballer of the Year, the first player born outside Africa to win the award.

Kanouté began his career with Lyon in France before moving to West Ham of the Premier League in 2000. After a spell at their London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Kanouté moved to Spanish club Sevilla where he won two consecutive UEFA Cups in 2006 and 2007 in addition to various other European and domestic honours and remains the club's highest-scoring foreign player. He joined Beijing Goan in June 2012.

Despite appearing 16 times for France U-21, Kanouté was a member of the Malian squad which reached the semi-finals of the 2004 African Cup of Nations and also featured in their selections for the tournament in 2006 and 2010. His international career ended in 2010 with a total of 39 caps and 23 goals.