Official: Talented Dortmund centre-back leaves for Ligue 1 club

Soumaïla Coulibaly (21) is leaving Borussia Dortmund for France – the central defender is joining RC Strasbourg.

Soumaïla Coulibaly has signed a contract with the Ligue 1 club RC Strasbourg until June 2029, with the basic transfer fee reportedly amounting to €7.5 million. Bonuses could add another million in the future.

Like Chelsea FC, RC Strasbourg has been a member of Todd Boehly’s investor alliance BlueCo for two years and benefits from this cooperation.

Coulibaly had returned to Dortmund a month earlier than planned from his loan to Stade Brest in order to make the squad for the Club World Cup. However, he was only on the bench for all of BVB’s games. Prior to that, Coulibaly had been struggling with adductor problems for some time.

Dortmund originally got the 21-year-old on a free deal from PSG in 2021. After a difficult start to life in Germany, die Schwarz-Gelben decided to loan Coulibaly out to Belgium (Royal Antwerpen – 2023/24) and France (Stade Brest – 2024/25) in the hopes of him proving that he could break into Dortmund’s first team after that – which was unfortunately unsuccessful.

“Soumi is an outstanding youngster who has unfortunately had to battle with injuries in the past. He can now sign a long-term contract in Strasbourg and return to his home country. We wish him all the best and, above all, continued good health,” said sporting director Sebastian Kehl.

Coulibaly, who came to BVB with a torn cruciate ligament, only made two appearances for the Dortmund professionals.