Can Seydou Doumbia Take Over Tyneside?

It came as little surprise when CSKA Moscow’s Ivorian striker Seydou Doumbia chose to leave the Army Men last winter to test himself in Serie A for AS Roma. During his four and a half seasons in Russia, Doumbia had been one of the absolute best players in the country, and he had become an icon among the red-blue fans after helping them secure two championships, two cups and two super cups as well as becoming the top scorer in the Russian Premier League twice.

Unfortunately for Doumbia, the move to the eternal city was no success, and after 13 league games and just two goals, he returned to CSKA on loan before this season, turning down several lucrative offers in the process.

For CSKA, who had failed to replace him after his departure, this was a blessing, and Doumbia went straight into the starting line-up, and with three goals in the two qualification matches against Sporting, he played a major role in the Army Men’s qualification to the Champions League group stage. It was soon as if he had never left, which his crucial goals against PSV, Zenit and Manchester United also proved. However, despite scoring an acceptable 11 goals in 21 games across all tournaments, it was clear that something had changed, and just like CSKA Doumbia finished the autumn part of the season in horrible form. Doumbia finished his second stint at CSKA with eight games in a row without scoring, games in which CSKA only won once.

After being defeated 2-1 by PSV in Eindhoven in December, Doumbia left Moscow during the Christmas break, and it was clear that he wouldn’t return. After having to settle for a loan before the season, his Italian owners hoped to sell him, and thus get some of the €15 million they paid for him back. The high asking price made it out of the question for the striker to stay in Moscow, as CSKA simply couldn’t afford him, and so
Doumbia moved to England and Newcastle United. The deal was closed only hours before the transfer window closed, and once again Roma had failed to sell Doumbia permanently. Newcastle announced the signing of Doumbia on loan, although with an option to buy him afterwards.


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Doumbia called it a dream to join an English club, while Newcastle manager Steve McClaren was also happy, stating that “He [Doumbia] is a natural goalscorer, someone who has scored goals in the Champions League, and has played at the highest level. We believe that he can make a mark in this team.”

At the same time, it was however also revealed that Doumbia wasn’t Newcastle’s first choice, and judging on his past six months at CSKA that is certainly understandable.
As McClaren said, Doumbia IS, without a drop of doubt, a natural goalscorer, but he is no longer the Doumbia who scored 18 league goals in the 2013/2014 season and almost singlehandedly secured CSKA the championship ahead of Zenit St. Petersburg.

Doumbia has always been injury prone, and his problems have only got worse through the years. In fact, he barely practiced with the CSKA squad in the autumn due to his many injuries, which forced head coach Leonid Slutskiy to spare him to have him ready for the important league and European fixtures.

CSKA and Slutskiy have been blessed with an incredible amount of continuity in the first team, which allowed him to keep Doumbia on the sideline, because he was already familar with his teammates and the system, but this will not be possible in England.

On top of the injury problems, Doumbia’s poor spell in Italy should worry Newcastle’s fans, as the Ivorian will most likely need time to get used to the high pace in the Premiership. In Russia, Doumbia usually had a good amount of time on the ball, but that will not be the case in the faster and more physical English league.

Newcastle fans should also bear in mind, that Doumbia hasn’t played first team football since December 8 when he played 90 minutes against PSV in the aforementioned Champions League match. It has been almost two months since then, and it is likely to take him some time to get back to his top level.

In Doumbia’s debut for Newcastle’s U21 team, he had to wait 19 minutes before getting his first touch, and according to Chronicle Live, the Ivorian looked “nowhere near match sharpness”. With this in mind, fans needs to be cautious before counting on him to help them with their both teams to score tips during his first couple of games.

Thus, the signing of Doumbia is risky for Newcastle, as it seems he has entered the fall of his career, despite only turning 28 on New Year’s Eve. He is injury prone, and will most likely need time to settle, which is why signing him as a short-term solution might not be the best idea. One the other hand, it gives Newcastle the possibility of testing Doumbia in the Premier League before committing to a long-term and expensive deal.

When that is said Doumbia has an incredible upside too, and during his years in Russia, he has repeatedly proven that he is a top striker. One doesn’t have to go further back than to 2014, when Doumbia scored three goals in the two Champions League fixtures against Manchester City, two of them securing a remarkable 2-1 victory at Etihad Stadium.

If Doumbia gets back to his level from before his move to Roma, he has the level to make an instant impact in the English Premier League, as he is a better striker than players such as Dame N’Doye, Roman Pavlyuchenko, José Salomon Rondon, Lacina Traoré, Jo and even Everton’s Baye Oumar Niasse who have all moved from Russia to England in the past years. There is however the possiblity that his body simply isn’t suited for the pressure of the tight English match-schedule.