Kamaldeen Sulemana

Kamaldeen Sulemana (born 15 February 2002), also known simply as Kamaldeen, is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a left winger or a forward for EFL Championship club Southampton and the Ghana national team.[3]

Kamaldeen Sulemana
Personal information
Full name Kamaldeen Sulemana[1]
Date of birth (2002-02-15) 15 February 2002
Place of birth Techiman, Ghana
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Winger, forward
Team information
Current team
 Southampton
Number 20
Youth career
0000–2013 Techiman Liberty FC[2]
2013–2020 Right to Dream
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2021 Nordsjælland 42 (14)
2021–2023 Rennes 34 (5)
2023– Southampton 26 (2)
International career‡
2020– Ghana 18 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:07, 25 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 June 2023

Club career

Nordsjælland

Born in Techiman, Bono East Region,[4] Kamaldeen was a part of the Right to Dream Academy before joining its cooperative club in Denmark, FC Nordsjælland, in January 2020.[3] He signed a five-year deal with the club on his 18th birthday and made his debut for the club a week later, 22 February 2020, against SønderjyskE in the Danish Superliga.[5] Kamaldeen started on the bench, but replaced Mohammed Diomande in the 61st minute.

In August 2020, he was handed shirt number 10, after the departure of Mohammed Kudus to Ajax.[6] He has been considered as one of the most promising young talents of the Danish Superliga, regarded for his technical ability, his dribbling and his speed, making him one of the most creative players in the league.[7][8][9] During the 2020–21 winter transfer window, his name was linked with several European clubs interested in him, in particular Ajax and Bayer Leverkusen, without this amounting to a move.[10][11]

After scoring five goals in five games, Kamaldeen was voted the Superliga Player of the Month for April 2021.[12]

Rennes

On 16 July 2021, Kamaldeen signed a five-year contract with Ligue 1 club Rennes,[13][14] for a reported €20 million.[15] Thereby, he surpassed the former Danish leagues transfer record holder, Alexander Sørloth.[15]

Kamaldeen made his full debut for Rennes on 8 August 2021 against Lens in the first game of the Ligue 1 season. He scored Rennes' only goal after 14 minutes in a game that ended 1–1.[16]

Southampton

On 1 February 2023, Sulemana signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Southampton.[17][18] On 4 February 2023, Sulemana made his first Premier League appearance in a 3–0 defeat against Brentford, replacing Ibrahima Diallo at half-time.[19] On 28 May 2023, Sulemana scored his first Premier League goals in a 4–4 draw with Liverpool.[20]

On 15 September 2023, Sulemana was given a red card by Bobby Madley for a foul on James Justin in injury time during Southampton's 1–4 defeat to Leicester City, with manager Russell Martin stating that he hoped the club "have grounds to appeal".[21] The red card issued was subsequently rescinded.[22]

International career

Kamaldeen received his first call-up for the Ghana national team on 25 September 2020 ahead of the game against Mali.[23][3] He debuted with Ghana in a 3–0 friendly loss to Mali on 9 October 2020.[24] Kamaldeen was also used in the friendly game against Qatar three days later, when he came on as a substitute for the last 30 minutes.[25]

Kamaldeen is part of the Ghana U-23 football team that will be participating at 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Moroco.[26]

Personal life

Sulemana's father is Gonja and his mother is Dagomba.[27] He is a Muslim.[27]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 25 October 2023[28]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Nordsjælland 2019–20 Superliga 13400———134
2020–21 Superliga 291010———3010
Total 421410———4314
Rennes 2021–22 Ligue 1 20410—6[lower-alpha 1]1—275
2022–23 Ligue 1 14110—4[lower-alpha 2]0—291
Total 34520—101—466
Rennes B 2021–22 CFA 3 10————10
Southampton 2022–23[29] Premier League 18200———182
2023–24[30] Championship 800000——80
Total 2620000——262
Career total 1032130001010011622
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International
As of match played 18 June 2023[31]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Ghana 202020
202150
202280
202330
Total180

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Ghana (GHA)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 14. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. "Kamaldeen: Høje forventninger til mig selv". FC Nordsjælland (in Danish). 24 February 2020.
  3. "Kamaldeen Sulemana, Biography". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  4. "THE JOURNEY: Kamaldeen Sulemana". www.youtube.com. FC Nordsjælland. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  5. FCN har lavet femårig aftale med debuterende stortalent, jyllands-posten.dk, 23 February 2020
  6. Okine, Sammy Heywood (31 August 2020). "FC Nordsjaelland unveils Kamaldeen Sulemana as new playmaker". News Ghana.
  7. Bruijn, Thijs de (31 January 2021). "Even voorstellen: Ajax-target Kamaldeen Sulemana". Elfvoetbal.nl (in Dutch).
  8. Risager, Victor (6 July 2020). "FCN-træner om hypet talent: Han er stadig ved at finde sine ben". Tipsbladet.dk (in Danish).
  9. Sauermilch, Jonas (7 January 2021). "Fire Superliga-spillere på fornem talentliste - TV 2". sport.tv2.dk (in Danish).
  10. "Ajax eye FC Nordsjælland talent as Promes replacement". Football Oranje. 30 January 2021.
  11. Ketterl, Jonny (19 January 2021). "Bayer Leverkusen: Kamaldeen Sulemana im Winter noch zu teuer?". Wetten.com DE (in German).
  12. "Kamaldeen Sulemana vinder Månedens Spiller pris". 3F Superliga (in Danish). 29 April 2021.
  13. "Kamaldeen Sulemana est Rennais !". STADE RENNAIS F.C. (in French). 16 July 2021.
  14. Risager, Victor (16 July 2021). "Officielt: Kamaldeen forlader FC Nordsjælland". Tipsbladet.dk (in Danish).
  15. Abolhosseini, Farzam (16 July 2021). "B.T. afslører: FC Nordsjælland har solgt Kamaldeen Sulemana for rekordbeløb" (in Danish).
  16. RENNES VS. LENS 1 - 1, soccerway.com, 8 August 2021
  17. "Sulemana is a Saint". Southampton FC. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  18. "Kamaldeen Sulemana: Southampton pay club-record £22m for Rennes winger". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  19. Rindl, Joe (4 February 2023). "Brentford 3–0 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  20. Rindl, Joe (28 May 2023). "Southampton 4–4 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  21. Rees-Julian, George (15 September 2023). "Southampton's Martin hopes for grounds to appeal Kamaldeen red card". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  22. "Kamaldeen red card rescinded". Southampton FC. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  23. "18-årig FCN-komet jubler over landsholdsudtagelse" (in Danish). Berlingske. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  24. "Mali vs. Ghana - 9 October 2020 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com.
  25. FCN-komet blev indskiftet i ghanesisk storsejr, bold.dk, 12 October 2020
  26. "2023 U23 AFCON: Kamaldeen, Nuamah headline Black Meteors squad - MyJoyOnline.com". www.myjoyonline.com. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  27. Raubil, Gariba (6 November 2021). "Kamaldeen Sulemana talks about his origin and how it all started for him in Techiman". Sportsworld Ghana.
  28. Kamaldeen Sulemana at Soccerway
  29. "Games played by Kamaldeen Sulemana in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  30. "Games played by Kamaldeen Sulemana in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  31. "Sulemana, Kamaldeen". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
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