Raising your profile in French football is easy: either play for the biggest clubs – or make them suffer. Mama Balde has taken the latter path.The 26-year-old forward has come a long way indeed. Last weekend, he scored two goals at Parc des Princes as his brave ESTAC Troyes narrowly lost 3-2 in an open battle with the Ligue 1 holders Paris Saint-Germain. He gave his team the lead twice, but goals from Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe prevented a shock in Paris.🎙 Mama Baldé : “On est sur le bon chemin.”Le buteur troyen retient le positif de cette défaite face au @PSG_inside. #PSGESTAC #Ligue1UberEats #PrimeVideoLigue1 pic.twitter.com/5lwuVPVtSa— Prime Video Sport France (@PVSportFR) October 29, 2022 Even though his team left the capital with no points, Mama has proven that he can score goals at the highest level. He’s now got seven goals from 12 starts this season. The Bissau-born lad has grown in more ways than one during his football career in Europe. His family moved to Portugal when he was ten, and he quickly joined a local football team. He joined Sporting CP in Portugal as a 17-year-old as a promising right-back. However, his first-team debut came while on loan at fellow Liga Portugal side Aves. His two-year stint at the Santo Tirso-based club between 2017 and 2019 made him an established player – either on the wing or even upfront. His great technique and goalscoring instinct made playing him at right-back a waste. While with Aves, he won the only trophy of his career so far – the Portuguese Cup in 2018.##NAJAVA_MECA_6787062##French club Dijon noticed his qualities and recruited him in June 2019 for around $600,000. He managed 13 goals in two seasons as Les Rouges struggled to stay in Ligue 1. Sadly for them, they went down in 2021 – and Balde moved on to his current team Troyes. It wasn’t a bad deal for Dijon either because they made a profit of $3 million.Troyes boss Bruno Irles decided to put Balde’s pace and power to good use, making him an out-and-out striker – but not before testing him at left wing. Now the coach wants Balde to show more of his goalscoring repertoire – starting tonight in the Ligue 1 match against Auxerre.”It’s a continuation of what he’s been doing since the start of this season. He works for the team and is also effective defensively. I’m happy with what he’s showing now. The only question was consistency but now, week after week, he’s showing his confidence, and that’s all him.”Mama Balde goes against Neymar (©AFP)Balde was eligible to represent Portugal, but has decided to play for Guinea-Bissau instead. He’s got 16 appearances and a goal for his birth country. According to Transfermarkt, his market value is already around $6 million. Troyes have got a star on their hands.LIGUE 1Friday23.00: (2.10) Troyes (3.50) Auxerre (3.80)19.00: (3.05) Ajaccio (3.05) Strasbourg (2.75)23.00: (5.40) Angers (3.70) Lens (1.79)Sunday15.00: (10.0) Lorient (6.25) PSG (1.33)17.00: (2.55) Clermont (3.40) Montpellier (3.00)17.00: (1.94) Nice (3.60) Brest (4.50)17.00: (2.24) Reims (3.40) Nantes (3.60)17.00: (3.40) Toulouse (3.60) Monaco (2.24)19.05: (2.55) Lille (3.40) Rennes (3.00)22.45: (2.40) Olympique Marseille (3.50) Olympique Lyon (3.15)***odds are subject to change
