Why Djibril Sow could be crucial to Sevilla’s ambitions | OneFootball

There’s no other way to put it: Sevilla are stinking up the place at the moment. Two years after claiming their seventh UEFA Europa League trophy, Sevilla find themselves mired in a relegation battle. The Andalusians sit 15th in the LaLiga table, two points above Girona, three above Deportivo Alavés, and five above Las Palmas in the relegation zone.

It looks set to be a nervy end to the campaign for Sevilla, who have won just one of their last 10 matches, and who have amassed one point from their previous six matches. And to make matters worse, they will be without their star attacker Dodi Lukebakio for their upcoming match vs. Leganés on May 4 unless their appeal to reverse his red card suspension is successful. The Belgian forward has scored 11 league goals – no other Sevilla player has more than four – and after seeing red early on in their 1-0 defeat, he looks set to miss their relegation-six-pointer vs. Los Pepineros. And as such, newly appointed Sevilla manager Joaquín Caparrós will need an improved performance from all of his players, including Djibril Sow.

Born in Switzerland to a Senegalese father and a Swiss mother, Sow developed a passion for football at an early age with local club BC Albisrieden. Similarly to Ramon Vega, Sow was raised in Zurich and played for FC Zürich from 2008 to 2015 before eventually taking his talents to Germany. After plying his trade in Borussia Mönchengladbach’s reserves, Sow made his professional debut for Gladbach on October 25, 2016 in a DFB-Pokal match vs. Stuttgart. However, after failing to gain a regular place in the team, Sow decided to return to Switzerland in 2017 and join Young Boys.

It was here in Bern where Sow first made a name for himself, excelling in central midfield as Adi Hütter’s Young Boys claimed their first Swiss Super League title in 32 years. Hütter rode off into the sunset after the championship and became Eintracht Frankfurt’s new manager, but Sow stuck around and continued his meteoric rise in a season that saw him earn a maiden call-up to the Swiss national team and be named the Swiss Super League Young Player of the Season as well as voted into the Team of the Season. Capable of sprinting from box to box, using his powerful physique and aggressive tackling to his advantage, and imposing himself in aerial duels, Sow also proved effective in keeping possession ticking and spreading the play to the final third. An all-action, box-to-box midfield dynamic, Sow excelled in the center of the pitch as Young Boys retained their spot atop Swiss football with yet another championship.

It’s why Hütter decided to bring him to Eintracht in the summer of 2019, joining the German club for €14m. Back in Germany, Sow made an impact the second time around and scored 8 goals and 13 assists in 160 appearances for Eintracht whilst also playing a pivotal role in their 2021/22 UEFA Europa League title. And in the summer of 2023, he joined the newly minted Europa League champions Sevilla for €10m. Sow struggled to impress in his debut campaign and missed the final eight matches due to a broken toe. He toggled between a starting role and a substitute role in the opening months of the 2024/25 campaign, but he has nevertheless managed to lock down a starting spot during the second half of the season. The Swiss veteran has been utilized as a box-to-box midfielder, an attacking midfielder, and a defensive midfielder, starting in 13 of Sevilla’s last 15 matches.

Since returning from a hamstring problem which kept him out of the final weeks of 2024, Sow has emerged as one of Sevilla’s most reliable performers in the center of the pitch. He is finally starting to charm the countless Sevillistas like Cristobal Soria who, up until recently, had wondered why their club had splurged so much money on his signing. He is finally being given a role that saw him dominate in Eintracht, where the team looked to spray the ball out wide and hit on the counter. It’s in this kind of system where Sow can help provide the balance that the team desperately needs, capable of offering a safe passing option whilst also staying back to snuff out any potential transitions. Sow may not have the brilliant vision of Éver Banega or Ivan Rakitić, but he does have the capacity to win the ball back in the final third and jump-start the transition. What’s more, he has what it takes to generate a dangerous opportunity with a chipped through ball or a quick one-two, with only Lukebakio (9) and Isaac Romero (5) creating more big chances so far than him (4) in Sevilla’s squad.

His constant movement on and off the ball enables him to find himself regularly in positions where he can either help work a passing move together or be ready to step in and tackle the opponent before he can advance further into dangerous territory. Furthermore, he’s never afraid to drop deep and lend a hand to his center backs Loïc Badé and Kike Salas whenever they are getting exposed.

At 28 years of age, Djibril Sow has experienced plenty of highs in football from domestic success with Young Boys to European glory with Eintracht Frankfurt, but now, he is tasked with ensuring that Sevilla don’t sink to the crushing lows of relegation. A trip to Celta de Vigo is sandwiched between matches against Leganés and Las Palmas, both of whom occupy the relegation zone, whilst Sevilla’s final two matches of the campaign will see them host Real Madrid and travel to Villarreal. If they are to avoid what would be their first relegation since 1996/97, they’ll need Sow to be at his brilliant best for the home stretch of the campaign.

GSFN | Zach Lowy