Yves Bissouma, a midfielder with rare qualities, has been the revelation of Brighton’s season so far. It is a pleasure to find he is as enjoyable to talk to as he is to watch. In a chat at the club’s training ground as they prepare for Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City, the Mali international discusses comparisons between himself and Paul Pogba, questionable career advice from Marcelo Bielsa, emigrating alone at the age of 13, what makes Chris Hughton special and why the player he used to aspire to resembling was Didier Zokora, the former Tottenham and Ivory Coast midfielder.
But before all that, some music. Because talk to any Brighton fan about Bissouma and there is a risk they will break into a song that is sure to be heard at Wembley – their reworking of the Champs’ 1958 hit, Tequila. It features a catchy tune and one word, which Brighton fans have replaced with “Bissouma!”
“Sometimes when I’m in the car, another car will pull up alongside and the people will wave at me and start singing my song,” he says. “I like it! When you leave Africa to pursue your dream and then, just three years later, you find yourself in England with people chanting your name …” He pauses to find the right words. “It’s lovely.”
Bissouma, still only 22, could be said to have come a long way fast, insofar as his first senior appearance in European club football was for Lille as recently as July 2016. But his journey really began when he was 13, when he left the land of his birth, Ivory Coast, to join Jean-Marc Guillou’s academy in Mali.
“It was hard to leave my parents because I’ve always been very devoted to them but I said to myself: ‘Maman and Papa have done their best for me, now I have to show I am a man and fight to achieve.’ We [Abidjan junior club Majestic SC] had played a tournament in Bamako and five of us were invited to join the academy. We all went. We became like brothers. They’re still the people I talk to most.” As he says that, Bissouma feels an urge to ring Rominigue Kouamé, with whom he joined Lille from Real de Bamako in 2016. “We’ve known each for much longer, as we were toddlers together in the same neighbourhood in Abidjan.” Now they play for Mali, where, he says, they learned to be adults.
Their introduction to Europe was hard. First, there was the climate – “There were times when I wanted to stop training because my hands and feet were so cold” – then, in his second full season at Lille, there was the fact his new manager, Bielsa, played him at right-back. “He is a super coach and a nice person but on that point we had a lot of problems,” says Bissouma, still seemingly incredulous at Bielsa’s vision for him. “I’m happy to play for the team wherever I’m needed but this was not just a question of filling in; he said he genuinely thought I should make my career as a right-back. I couldn’t understand it. It was never nasty but we couldn’t agree on this, especially as we kept losing, so things became difficult.”
Bielsa had other problems at Lille and his brief tenure ended in December 2017. Restored to central midfield, Bissouma ended the season superbly, helping to clinch Lille’s survival with a spectacular goal from 30 yards in a critical relegation battle at Toulouse. It was around then that comparisons to Pogba became common, with observers detecting a similar combination of power, finesse and imagination. Maybe Brighton were thinking along those lines when they paid around £15m to sign him last summer. He certainly brings a new dimension to their midfield. But he is having none of the Pogba comparison. “He has won titles, played in the Champions League final, lifted the World Cup, he has blazed his trail,” says Bissouma. “I’m just starting out so there’s no comparison. Or maybe they think we have the same hairdo?” He bursts out laughing.
There was a time when Bissouma would have been thrilled to be compared to Zokora. “I admired him so much that my friends nicknamed me Zokora,” he says. “I loved his style of play. His technique. The way he defended, his aggressiveness and the way he worked so hard. We got the same education because he was raised in a Jean-Marc Guillou academy, albeit in a different country. I couldn’t watch him when he was at Spurs because we didn’t have the necessary channel but I never missed his international matches. For me he is one of the greatest ever African players.”
Bissouma may not have been able to watch the Premier League but he relishes being part of it now. “Ligue 1 is good but this is a far higher level,” he says. “The mentalities are not the same. Here it is much more aggressive, much more physical. The slightest error and you’re dead. It’s exciting, especially as there are so many great teams. Every weekend is like playing in the Champions League.”
He says his adaptation has been helped by Hughton. “In my short career he is the best manager I’ve had. He’s a man who helps me understand things on a daily basis and never stops exploring ways for me to get better, not just in football but in life. He’s not just a coach, he’s like another father to me. When I first arrived there were some complications with my family getting visas and he went to fight for me. And when my wife and I had our first child, he sent a present and card to our house. And there are so many other things he’s done to help me. He’s very different to other managers I’ve had. They have all been good but he is great.”
What Brighton and Mali fans want to see is whether Bissouma can progress from being a very good player to a great one. His potential is huge. “I have to improve,” he says. “I have to work even harder defensively to win more balls and, offensively, I have to create more chances and score more goals. Bring combativeness and a technical calmness. I think if I really manage to give my all, this team will win many more matches.”
