Elhadji Babacar Khouma (born 17 March 1993), known as Khouma Babacar, is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Danish club Copenhagen.
.JPG) Babacar with Fiorentina | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Elhadji Babacar Khouma[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 17 March 1993 | ||
| Place of birth | Thiès, Senegal | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Copenhagen | ||
| Number | 15 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2005–2007 | Rail | ||
| 2007–2008 | Pescara | ||
| 2008–2009 | Fiorentina | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2018 | Fiorentina | 99 | (27) |
| 2012 | → Racing Santander (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | → Padova (loan) | 16 | (1) |
| 2013–2014 | → Modena (loan) | 41 | (20) |
| 2018 | → Sassuolo (loan) | 13 | (2) |
| 2018–2022 | Sassuolo | 29 | (7) |
| 2019–2020 | → Lecce (loan) | 25 | (3) |
| 2020–2022 | → Alanyaspor (loan) | 41 | (11) |
| 2022– | Copenhagen | 17 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2009–2010 | Senegal U17 | 3 | (1) |
| 2010–2012 | Senegal U20 | 6 | (1) |
| 2017– | Senegal | 2 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 January 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 June 2017 | |||
Club career
Born in Thiès, Babacar began his career in the academy of US Rail in his hometown. Two years later, aged only 14, he moved to Italy and signed with Delfino Pescara 1936 after a successful trial.[2]
In July 2008, Babacar signed with another club in the latter country, ACF Fiorentina,[3] after also being tracked by another Serie A side, Genoa CFC.[2] In the 2009–10 season he began training with the first team, coached by Cesare Prandelli.
On 14 January 2010, at the age of 16 years and 10 months, Babacar made his official debut for the Viola, starting against A.C. ChievoVerona in the Coppa Italia[4] and scoring the 2–2 equaliser in the 75th minute of an eventual 3–2 home win.[5] He scored his first league goal on 20 March, netting the third in a 3–0 home victory over Genoa.[6]
On 31 January 2012, Babacar was loaned to Spain's Racing de Santander.[7] He maiden appearance in La Liga took place 11 days later, when he came on as late substitute in a 0–0 home draw against Atlético Madrid.[8]
Babacar netted ten times in 22 matches in the 2016–17 campaign, helping his team finish in eighth place.[9] In January 2018, he joined U.S. Sassuolo Calcio on loan until 30 June as part of a swap deal involving Diego Falcinelli – his new club also secured an option to sign him permanently.[10][11]
On 2 September 2019, Babacar was loaned to newly promoted U.S. Lecce on a season-long move.[12]
On 21 January 2022, he signed a contract with Danish club Copenhagen until the summer of 2025.[13]
International career
Babacar made his debut for Senegal on 27 March 2017, playing the second half of a 1–1 friendly draw with Ivory Coast that had to be abandoned in the 88th minute due to a pitch invasion.[14][15]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 17 July 2022[16]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Fiorentina | 2009–10 | Serie A | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 5 | 2 | |
| 2010–11 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 2 | — | 21 | 2 | |||
| 2011–12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2014–15 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 5[a] | 2 | 28 | 9 | ||
| 2015–16 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 5[a] | 2 | 24 | 7 | ||
| 2016–17 | 22 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 8[a] | 4 | 31 | 14 | ||
| 2017–18 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | 18 | 5 | |||
| Total | 99 | 27 | 11 | 4 | 18 | 8 | 128 | 39 | ||
| Racing Santander (loan) | 2011–12 | La Liga | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| Padova (loan) | 2012–13 | Serie B | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 17 | 2 | |
| Modena (loan) | 2013–14 | Serie B | 41 | 20 | 1 | 0 | — | 42 | 20 | |
| Sassuolo | 2017–18 | Serie A | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 2 | |
| 2018–19 | 29 | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | 31 | 7 | |||
| Total | 42 | 9 | 2 | 0 | — | 44 | 9 | |||
| Lecce (loan) | 2019–20 | Serie A | 25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 25 | 3 | |
| Alanyaspor (loan) | 2020–21 | Süper Lig | 25 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 1[a] | 0 | 28 | 12 |
| 2021–22 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 3 | — | 17 | 6 | |||
| Total | 41 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 18 | ||
| Copenhagen | 2021–22 | Danish Superliga | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 |
| 2022–23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 289 | 74 | 18 | 12 | 19 | 8 | 326 | 94 | ||
Honours
Copenhagen
References
External links
- Khouma Babacar at TuttoCalciatori.net (in Italian)
- Gazzetta dello Sport profile (in Italian) [dead link]
- Khouma Babacar at National-Football-Teams.com