Sheffield United: Ismaila Coulibaly dealt a huge blow in his bid to breakthrough at Bramall Lane

Ismaila Coulibaly has been dealt a blow in his pursuit of a regular place in Sheffield United’s matchday squad after being forced to undergo a knee operation.
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The midfielder returned to Bramall Lane earlier this summer, having spent the past two seasons on loan with Beerschot. Like United, the Belgians are part of HRH Prince Abdullah bin Mus’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s portfolio of football clubs.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s Carabao Cup tie against West Bromwich Albion, assistant manager Stuart McCall confirmed: “We’ve had plenty of positive news on the injury front but one downside is that Ismaila needed a knee operation. It was a clean up. He was feeling something in there towards the end (of pre-season) and so it was decided to take a look.”

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“We’re not sure how long he’ll be out for,” McCall added. “It’s a shame for the lad, because he’d been working really hard since coming back in with us. He’ll be out for a bit, we’re not too sure for how long exactly. It was the right thing to do though.”

Aged 21, Coulibaly joined United from Norwegian outfit Sarpsborg in September 2020. He was initially scheduled to spend three years in Antwerp, where Beerschot are based. But that plan was revised when they were relegated from the Jupiler Pro League following a chaotic campaign at the Olympisch Stadion. Had Coulibaly remained there, he would have been ineligible for a work permit at the end of the agreement under the terms of post-Brexit employment legislation.

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