Frédéric Kanouté

Lyon

Kanouté's talents as a striker were first noticed by his local team, Olympique Lyonnais, and he joined them as an apprentice in 1997. He made his debut in the Intertoto Cup against Polish side Odra Wodzisław.

West Ham United

In March 2000, Kanouté was signed by English Premier League side West Ham United from Olympique Lyonnais on an initial loan basis. After nine first-team appearances in which he scored two goals, he signed permanently in May 2000 on a four-year contract for a reported fee of £4 million. Kanouté made 84 league appearances for West Ham, scoring 29 goals. The club were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2002–03 season.

Tottenham Hotspur

Kanouté was bought by Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £3.5 million on 5 August 2003. He scored on his debut on 23 August, the winner in a 2-1 home league victory over Leeds United, nine minutes after coming on for Bobby Zamora. His first season was interrupted by a call-up for the 2004 African Cup of Nations for Mali. Tottenham tried to stop him going by asking FIFA whether Kanouté was eligible to play for Mali after representing France at Under-20 level. Kanouté was unable to cement himself as a regular at White Hart Lane, as Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe were preferred. He became a less prolific goalscorer and instead was involved in attacks by setting up various goals with runs at the defence and creating space for other attacking players.

Sevilla

Kanouté was…

Kanouté made 11 appearances for the France national under-21 team, scoring one goal, from 1998 to 1999. After turning 21 in 1998, Kanouté was not called up for the France national team in 2000, 2002, or 2004. In 2004, FIFA changed its rules to allow a footballer to play for the national team of the country in which his mother or father was born. Although eligible for either, Kanouté elected to play for Mali rather than for France. Kanouté was joint top goal scorer for Mali at the 2004 African Cup of Nations. Kanouté scored four goals in four matches helping Mali to the semi-finals, where they lost to Morocco. In October 2007, Kanouté, along with Mali international teammate Mamady Sidibé, were attacked by irate Togolese fans after they knocked Togo out of the African Cup of Nations qualifier. Frederic Kanoute announced his retirement from international football following Mali's elimination from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

In 2001, Kanouté was described by The Irish Times in 2001 as "highly skilful, quick-footed, quick-witted and with an eye for the spectacular." Upon signing for Sevilla in 2005, the club's sporting director, Monchi, described Kanouté with the following words: "He's tall, good in the air, skilful and strong and can play up front or just behind the lead striker." Throughout his career he was also known for his eye for goal. In 2020, Chris Howie of beIN Sports described Kanouté as a "tall, languid, graceful [...] striker," also labelling him a "late bloomer."

Frédéric Oumar Kanouté was born on 2 September 1977 in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Rhône.