Ismaël Koné’s last 18 months have been full of twists and turns in a meteoric rise in his career.
He arrived with CF Montreal fresh from playing for CS St-Laurent, made his professional debut, scored his first goal, made the MLS playoffs and culminated in appearances on the home ground for Canada at the World Cup in Qatar™.
This course attracted the attention of the football world, so much so that he will continue his career with Watford FC in the second division in England.
The principal concerned recognizes that everything has gone very quickly in recent months.
“In a year and a half, a lot has happened. That’s football. Sometimes it takes time and other times everything goes very fast and I’m glad in my case that it’s this option. I am grateful and proud of the work I have done,” said the man who played 106 minutes on the pitch in three games in Qatar.
Go further. This is obviously Koné’s objective. And for the 20-year-old midfielder, joining Watford represents the perfect opportunity to continue his development.
“It’s encouraging, but I have other things to accomplish. I’m only at the beginning, hoping to go much further,” said the man who scored two goals and had five assists in 26 games with CF MTL this season.
“I wanted to go to a club that really wanted me for the person and the player that I am with my faults and qualities. That’s why I think it’s a great choice,” he added.
Koné admits the project also involves Italian club Udinese which, like Watford, is owned by the same owner. But the Quebecer prefers not to reveal too much for the moment, focusing on the English club.
“The plan at the moment is to go to Watford and help the team to get up to speed. Premier League. We are not too far behind as the team is in fourth position. Everything is possible, but at the moment the project is to be with Watford and at the end of the season we will see what will happen.
Koné will head to Watford on Boxing Day to train with his new team. The team plays on January 2, but the midfielder instead expects to play his first match on January 7 against Reading FC.
During a twenty-minute videoconference on Thursday afternoon, Koné was also complimentary of his former coach Wilfried Nancy.
Koné said in particular that Nancy had had a huge impact on his progress even if, by the admission of the young 20-year-old footballer, the French head coach had been “very hard, at times”, with him.
“I think I’m a player who needed it, I think I needed to understand certain things, I needed to see certain things whether it was tactically, whether as a player, and off the pitch. . I am always grateful and I always will be, ”said Koné in particular, speaking of the one who will now lead the Columbus Crew.
While Koné had no difficulty in praising his former head coach, he had to work a little harder to identify his fondest memories with the Montreal team, which he will leave behind to join Watford. CF.
“There are a lot, honestly. I hesitate between the moment when I scored (a goal) in the ‘playoffs’ at home, because I had never scored at home, and the moment when we started to win a lot of games in MLS this season”, ended up identifying Koné.
“We always believed in what we wanted to do, and what we were capable of doing, above all. And seeing that progression, game after game, and winning, winning, winning, and especially the way, I think is one of the best memories. That’s where we were able to show people that we were a great team, that we were capable of doing it,” Koné also said.
To another question on the same theme, Koné also took the time to highlight the contribution of his former teammates in his progress, which many observers describe as very fast.
“Montreal helped me a lot to go to a superior team. I think I did my part too, but the team helped me so much. The teammates I had, the squad we had, the head coach we had. Everyone was on a mission and we all knew what we were capable of. »
