Cheick Keita

Born in 1996 in Paris,[4] Keita started his youth football career at the local team, Paris FC.[5] He had been selected to attend INF Clairefontaine, and spent three years in Monaco's youth system before being released.[6]

After trials with French clubs failed to produce a contract, Keita joined the youth team of Italian second-tier club Virtus Entella.[6] On 17 January 2015, he was an unused substitute in a Serie B match against Bari.[7] Early the following season, on 12 September, the player made his senior debut in Serie B against A.C. Cesena at Stadio Comunale, playing the game as a starter under coach Alfredo Aglietti. He was shown a yellow card in the 32nd minute.[7][8] On 24 October, Keita was sent off after 75 minutes of the match against Bari for receiving two yellow cards.[9] He was again sent off on 26 March 2016 against Como, this time in stoppage time.[10] He played 32 games (including a game in the Coppa Italia) and was shown eleven yellow cards and two red.[7] After considerable transfer window interest from what website TuttoB.com dubbed "half of Serie A", Keita remained with Entella.[11] He made 14 league appearances in the first half of the 2016–17 season, with only one yellow card.[7]

On 19 January 2017, Keita signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Birmingham City of the EFL Championship (English second tier); the fee was undisclosed.[12] According to manager Gianfranco Zola, "Everybody speaks very highly about him in Italy and a lot of teams were interested – we did very well to get him because everybody says he has got a big future."[13] He made his debut on 4 February at home to Fulham, playing on the left of a makeshift back four, kept a clean sheet, and supplied the cross for Lukas Jutkiewicz's winning goal in what was judged a man-of-the-match performance.[14] He continued in the struggling side for the next six matches – all defeats[15] – until a knee injury forced him out.[16] He was restored to the starting eleven in early April for the visit to league leaders Brighton & Hove Albion, but the Birmingham Mail's correspondent thought his forward-thinking nature meant his selection was too risky while the team remained in relegation danger.[17] He finished the season with ten appearances, as the team secured their Championship survival on the last day of the season.[18] Keita was a second-half substitute in the opening match of the 2017–18 season, but picked up a groin injury that kept him out for a few weeks. Meanwhile, new manager Harry Redknapp signed Arsenal youngster Cohen Bramall on loan, and Bramall went straight into the starting eleven.[19]

Keita returned to Italy to join Serie A club Bologna on loan for the 2017–18 season.[20] He arrived with an adductor muscle injury that he expected to keep him out for two weeks,[21] but remained under treatment for some considerable time longer,[22] and did not take a full part in first-team training until well into November.[23] After two appearances for the club's Primavera side, he was included in the squad for the Serie A match at home to Cagliari on 3 December,[24][25] but remained unused.[7] Keita finally made his Bologna and Serie A debut on 18 April 2018, away to Sampdoria, as a second-half substitute for regular left wing-back Adam Masina; he became the first Malian to play for the club.[26] Head coach Roberto Donadoni said that he put Keita on rather than Ibrahima Mbaye because of his greater drive.[27] Keita made his only start in his third and last appearance for Bologna, in a 3–1 defeat against top-of-the-table Juventus. He struggled against the trickery of Juan Cuadrado, and was unable to cover properly for Juventus' second goal because he was pushed by its scorer, Sami Khedira.[28]

After left-back Kristian Pedersen became Birmingham's first signing of the 2018 summer transfer window, Keita joined Eupen of the Belgian First Division A on a season-long loan.[29] In the visit to Mouscron that "pitted the league's worst defence against the worst attack", he scored the only goal – his first at senior level[7] – when Silas Gnaka's shot was parried to his feet to give his team their first points of the season in their fifth match.[30] He missed several weeks with a muscle injury before returning to the side after the October international break.[7][31]