Premier League has only had one player from Burkina Faso – Bertrand Traore, who played for Chelsea and Aston Villa. That tally is about to double, as Bournemouth have agreed to pay French club Lorient around $24.4 million for their 20-year-old winger Dango Aboubacar Faissal Ouattara.Ouattara has six goals and six assists in 18 Ligue 1 appearances this season in what is his breakout campaign in professional football.Dango Ouattara everybody, get him in pic.twitter.com/l9rYWKHsOz— ¹¹ (@DemaraiArmy) January 8, 2023 The youngster has been in talks with the Cherries along with a number of other Premier League clubs over the last two weeks but it now appears Ouattara will become the first signing of the Bill Foley era. The new Bournemouth owner has purchased a 30% stake in Lorient with a view to owning the French club completely. It made Ouattara’s transfer go even smoother.##NAJAVA_MECA_6945628##Dango was born on 11 February 2002 in Ouagadougou. He started playing football at the Academie Foot Plus before moving to Majestic FC, one of the country’s leading clubs. Ouattara was then offered a contract by Lorient at the start of the 2020/21 season, when aged 18, after impressing in two trial spells. Having been called up to then-coach Christophe Pelissier’s first-team squad for a Coupe de France match during that campaign, he signed his first professional contract in May 2021. He never looked back.The Burkina Faso international may be left-footed, but he has often been placed on the right wing by Lorient’s coach Regis Le Bris. He is an exciting player who should thrive in the Premier League.Dango Ouattara is close to leaving Lorient for Bournemouth in a €27.5 million deal, according to FootMercato.”Only a few details are missing”.Ouattara one of the revelations of Ligue 1 this seasonPreviously linked to Everton and West Ham. pic.twitter.com/c837LCRnlC— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) January 16, 2023 Ouattara was still just 19 when he was called up to the Burkina Faso squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon last year. The tournament did not start well for him as he tested positive for Covid-19 and missed his team’s first two group games. He scored the only goal in the quarter-final clash with Tunisia but was sent off late in that game, meaning he could not play in the 3-1 loss to Senegal in the semis. New coach Hubert Velud again called him up for AFCON qualifiers against Cape Verde and Eswatini in June, and Ouattara scored three goals in those two games. He will be the leading player for his country in years to come.
