As Tranmere easily put Dunfermline to the sword in the opening pre-season friendly yesterday, French striker Amadou Soukouna emerged as a half-time substitute.
The forward is currently on trial with Rovers and has been training with the squad this week in St Andrews. However, while it was widely known that Walsall midfielder Reece Flanagan was on trial, Soukouna was a surprise.
He looked promising when he joined the action at East End Park, twice getting in to good positions to see chances saved before he did find the net with a superb 25-yard curler that finished up in the corner of the net.
Who is Amadou Soukouna?
Born in Norgent-sur-Marne, a suburb to the east of Paris, the 26-year-old has not played in England before. A striker who relies on his pace, so we’re told, he does have a decent enough pedigree.
At the age of eight, Soukouna began playing football for a French commune in Paris called Fontenay-sous-Bois. The commune has more than 25 schools and colleges, and it was while playing football for these teams that he was spotted by Toulouse.
In 2008, aged 16, Soukouna headed south to sign for Toulouse, initially within the B Team setup, and two years later was handed a senior professional debut in the first team playing in the French Ligue 1 (Premier League equivalent).
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He would play five times for the first team, scoring once, and also spent time on loan at Luzenac in the third tier of French football where he scored four times in 31 appearances.
From 2013 to 2015, Amadou Soukouna was again involved in the second team at Toulouse, making 19 appearances before leaving the club on a free transfer to join Bulgarian side Vereya.
His first season in Bulgaria was good, and he netted six times in 27 appearances before he attracted the attention of bigger clubs. Levski Sofia, one of Bulgaria’s biggest club, moved to sign Soukouna on a two-and-a-half-year contract in 2017.
He managed only one goal for Sofia in 10 outings and saw his contract terminated by mutual consent in December 2017. He joined Cherno More on a short-term contract until the end of the 17/18 season, still playing in the Bulgarian top flight.
It’s likely that Soukouna’s name has been circulated around a whole host of English Football League clubs, so whether the Prenton Park faithful get to see him have a run out against Liverpool on Saturday is not clear.
There has been plenty of trialists in the past that have impressed only to leave for similar spells elsewhere or turn down contracts and join rival league clubs.
