Souleymane Youla


Souleymane Youla is a Guinean football player, who plays for Ronse. He has Turkish citizenship with the name Süleyman Yula.

Career

Club

Youla's professional career started in Belgium in 1999, when Lokeren signed him to replace the departed Jan Koller, who had moved to Anderlecht. Scoring 9 goals in 14 matches, Youla played a successful season, before also being signed by Anderlecht. At Anderlecht, he faced fierce competition in the likes of Koller, Tomasz Radzinski, Aruna Dindane and Oleg Iachtchouk. He only remained for one season but is remembered by Anderlecht fans for his injury time winner against PSV Eindhoven in the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, allowing Anderlecht to qualify for the Round of 16 as group winners. Youla moved to Turkey where he signed for Gençlerbirliği SK and played five seasons as a first team player. He signed for Beşiktaş J.K., got much less playing time and was loaned out for one season to French side FC Metz. At Metz, he was noticed by Lille, who signed him in 2007. After again a season where he did not receive much opportunities, he was loaned out back to Turkish side Eskişehirspor where he partnered up with Ümit Karan. The following season, the transfer was made permanent. Thereafter, Youla enjoyed two more seasons in Turkey, with Denizlispor and Orduspor. Following the 2010–11 season, he stayed unemployed until November 2012, when he was hired by Belgian team Sint-Niklaas to help the team remain in the Belgian Second Division. On 11 June 2016, Youla signed for North American Soccer League side Indy Eleven.

International

He was part of the Guinean 2004 African Nations Cup team who finished second in their group in the first round of competition. The team progressed to the quarter finals, where they lost to Mali.

Career statistics

International

Statistics accurate as of match played 14 November 2009

International goals