Mahamadou Susoho moved from the city of Barcelona, where he was in the squad for La Liga side RDC Espanyol, in the top tier of Spanish football, to Manchester City’s Academy and signed a professional contact with the Premiership club, training with superstars including Erling Haaland.
City boss Pep Guardiola blooded him in the Champions League, playing his part as a second-half substitute in a 3-2 win at Red Star Belgrade.
Now, he’s on loan at William Hill Premiership newcomers, Livingston. That’s quite a journey.
Why did he come north? Because the defensive midfielder wants to prove to the football world that he can play. Basically, he feels he needs games to develop his skills.
The 20-year-old, whose nationality is listed as English (he was born in Spain to Gambian parents but has lived in Bradford since he was 11), Gambian and Spanish – he was born there and is fluent in Catalan – has also had a loan spell at Peterborough United,
Furthermore, he has two caps for England’s under-16 side, four for the Spanish under-17 squad, and two three for the Spanish under-18 group.
His move to The Home of the Set Fare Arena materialised on deadline day this year after his agent received a call from David Martindale, Livingston’s manager.
Susoho was persuaded to sign as he is desperate to log games and parade his skills to a wider public.
Livingston, argued Martindale, could provide that stage and the player appeared at a media briefing in midweek ahead of the club’s trip to Dundee in the William Hill Premiership on Saturday (kick-off 15.00).
The soft-spoken midfielder told of his emergence from the Espanyol club to Manchester and now to West Lothian, and he admitted to not knowing much about Scottish football before being enticed to Livingston.
Susoho said other clubs were interested in signing him but Martindale convinced him that The Lions should be his temporary home. He added: “Livingston said I could play games and that’s what I need.
“The manager gave me the confidence. He said it was a challenge and a different intensity of football than in England. I expected the physically of Scottish football as it is like league one football in England, very physical.”
Susoho recalled “a very proud moment” for him and his family when he made his debut for Manchester City, and that is the pinnacle of his career so far.
The talented player also told of being in shock when he trained with Haaland and the rest of the City squad which contains a host of household names, but he said: “You get used to it. They are very good people.”
Now, he desperately wants to become a regular at Manchester City and a season in Scotland, guided by Martindale, may help him hone his skills and take another step along that road.
ON THE BALL: Susoho aiming for the top via Livingston and The Home of the Set Fare Arena. Picture Nigel Duncan
