Midfielder unhappy at Sporting, has clear aim under Rui Borges | OneFootball

Issa Doumbia has set an ambitious target for his first season at Sporting. The Italian midfielder wants to surpass the 10 goals he scored for Venezia in 2025/26, and Rui Borges has already started working on a solution that will allow him to appear more often in finishing areas.

According to newspaper A Bola, the Italy international wants to become more decisive at Alvalade and recover one of the traits that most stood out in his last season in Italy. Sporting’s hierarchy and coaching staff also believe that the 22-year-old can offer more closer to the opposition goal.

The idea is to relieve Doumbia of some defensive responsibilities - who is gaining ground in the national team - and give him greater freedom to attack. Instead of constantly receiving the ball facing the play and with the concern of protecting the team’s balance, Sporting want to position him in more advanced areas, where he can turn towards goal and exploit his ability to arrive in the box and shoot.

That plan was already tested in the draw against Arouca. Rui Borges moved the team closer to a 4x3x3, with Sergi Altimira operating as the deepest midfielder and Doumbia and Rodrigo Zalazar appearing as more attack-minded interiors.

The midfielder finished last season at Venezia with 10 goals and six assists. At Alvalade, he has yet to score, despite already having featured in the team’s eight official matches this season, a record shared only with Altimira among the signings brought in during the last transfer window.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.