Birama Touré recruited by MHSC: who is this 32-year-old Malian midfielder, who played for Nantes and Auxerre ?

Birama Touré a signé son contrat mercredi matin. MHSC

L’ancien milieu de Nantes et Auxerre est la seconde recrue estivale de l’équipe de Michel Der Zakarian.

Montpellier renews its midfield. Fifteen days after the loan of the young Strasbourg player Rabby Nzingoula, it brings in a second summer recruit. The former defensive midfielder of Auxerre (2017-2023) and Nantes (2012-2016) Birama Touré (32 years old), without a club since his departure from Al-Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), comes to strengthen the midfield, a sector targeted in the spring.

Michel Der Zakarian is preparing to meet an old acquaintance. The former Nantes coach (2012-16) launched this Malian, discovered at Beauvais (National), where he grew up since the age of five, in Ligue 2, then Ligue 1.

After a loan to Brest, then to Standard de Liège, Touré, the former Malian international (10 caps), spent more than six seasons at Auxerre, which went up and down the ladder between Ligue 2 and Ligue 1.

“He has legs and he works”

The athletic defensive midfielder (1.83m) fits the profile sought by Der Zak. “He is a player I know well for having launched him in Nantes. He is a player capable of playing in front of the defense while Rabby has more of a box to box style. He is disciplined, he has legs and he works hard", describes the Montpellier coach with a visibly satisfied smile.

Eager to bring fresh blood into the midfield, Der Zak convinced the president Laurent Nicollin to strengthen this sector of the game. "I am delighted that Birama is joining us. He made a huge financial effort to sign with us and I thank him for that and I hope that he will bring a real plus to the team, », specifies the Montpellier president.

The state of emergency was not far from being declared. With just one point in three games, Montpellier is in 16th place in the play-offs for the second time since returning to Ligue 1 in 2009.

Faced with a financial crisis, due to the drop in TV rights, it waited until the end of a transfer window with no departures to rectify its situation and strengthen its defensive sector, which has been very permeable since the start of the season (ten goals conceded).

Ferri on the way out ?

Montpellier has long hoped for the arrival of Swiss international Edimilson Fernandes. In the absence of an agreement before the end of the transfer window, the athletic midfielder from Mainz has joined Brest. In addition, the Montpellier staff has favoured the track of the former Malian international while the former Montpellier player Benjamin Stambouli has been free since his departure from Reims before signing for Metz.

Montpellier is throwing a stone in the garden of Jordan Ferri, one of the big salaries it has wanted to part with since the off-season. In contact with various clubs, and more recently with a Turkish club, the ex-Nîmes (2108-19) and Lyonnais, tied until 2026, has no intention of leaving.