Issa Doumbia joined Sporting in 2024: They thought we were mad | OneFootball

Issa Doumbia is one of the signings already announced by the green and whites for 2026/2027 - joining a group that is still waiting to welcome other names. The 22-year-old Italian midfielder moved to Sporting for 20 million euros. The player’s transfer became the biggest sale in the history of the Italian club.

Filippo Antonelli, sporting director of the transalpine club, took part in a panel entitled "Welcome to Serie A" held in Parma, where he recalled the whole process that led to Doumbia’s signing in 2024, saying it caused great surprise.

“We made a big profit with Issa Doumbia. We bought him from Albinoleffe. From Serie C, he went to Serie A, then Serie B, and was meanwhile sold. People thought we were crazy when we paid one million (euros) for him while he was playing in Serie C. He spent 13 years at one team, Albinoleffe, and we need to do the same,” Antonelli recalled.

“Why shouldn’t I invest that million in youth development? Asking the owners for that for a Serie C player is sometimes exhausting…”, concluded the sporting director. Thus, besides having benefited from all his sporting output, the club will still receive several million from this transfer.

The footballer played for Venezia over the last two seasons, recording 10 goals and five assists in 63 matches. In 2025/26, he contributed to winning the Serie B title and, consequently, to the club’s promotion to Serie A, one year after relegation to the second tier.

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