Doukara, Souleymane

2014-2017 (Player Leeds Details)(Player Details)

Striker/Winger

Born: Meudon, France: 29-09-1991

Debut: v Millwall (a): 09-08-2014

Height & Weight: 6ft 1ins 12st 8lb

Nicknamed Dudu, although he was born in Meudon, a south-eastern suburb of Paris, his parents are Senagalese and he is therefore qualified to play for Senegal should they choose. He started in local football in Paris with SCM Chatillon, CA Paris and Paris Universite Club but at the age of sixteen he came to the notice of the scouts of Rovigo Calcio, an Italian club that played in the Lega Pro Seconda Divisione and he joined them at the start of the 2008-09 season. He was still only sixteen when he had trials in the club's pre-season games. He made his debut in the first team in the Lega Pro Second Division Girone B home game with AS Figline on 7th December 2008 soon after his seventeenth birthday. In that season he was involved in six games but did not score as Rovigo were religated from Serie C to Serie D. He was, however, selected to play in the prestigious Viareggio Youth Tournament for AC Milan along with Harmony Ikande and Nnamdi Oduamadi and started in two games. Back at Rovigo he continue to progress scoring six times in thirty-six games in 2009-10 and five goals in thirty-three games in 2010-11. Rovigo's financial plight and these performances brought him to the attention of Grasshopper of Zurich, a Swiss First Division side, but after a short trial he was not signed. The financial difficulties of Rovigo ensured that many players, including Doukara, had to be released. He was taken on trial by Serie C side US Vibonese which was concluded with a two year contract. He had a successful 2011-12 season at the club, scoring thirteen goals in thirty-seven games, but it failed to stop the club being relegated at the end of the season. However his progress was monitored by Serie B sides AC Siena, Calcio Padova and AS Cittadella as well as Grasshopper. However, it was Serie A side Calcio Catania that signed him on 2nd July 2012.He was an unused substitute for the opening Serie A fixture at AS Roma on 26th August 2012, which saw his new team draw 2-2, but his first start was on 8th September 2012 when he played a full game for the Catania Primavera C side in a 0-0 draw at home to Palermo. this was quickly followed by his first Serie A appearance as he came on as a eighty-ninth minute substitute for Alejandro Gomez as Catania went down 0-2 at AC Fiorentina on 16th September 2012. His only start in Serie A came on 10th November 2012 in a 0-0 draw at Cagliari in which he gave way to Takayuki Morimoto after sixty-six minutes. He was part of the Serie A squad in thirty- eight games, starting one, coming off the bench twelve times and being unused on twenty- five occasions. In the Coppa Italia he was involved in three games, being a substitute twice, the first on 4th December 2012 in a 3-1 home win over AS Cittadella in which he replaced Takayuki Morimoto after fifty-three minutes, and on 8th January 2013 at SS Lazio where they went down 0-3 as he replaced Gonzalo Bergessio in the eighty-third minute, while he was unused on 12th December 2012 as Catania won 5-4 at Parma FC. He did not score in any competition that season. At the start of the following season he was an unused substitute on 26th August 2013 in a 1-2 defeat at AC Fiorentina and a few days later on 1st September 2013 he came on as a sixty-seventh minute substitute for Sebastian Leto in a 0-3 home defeat by AC Milan. The following day, in the final day of transfers before the window closed, he joined Serie B team SS Juve Stabia on loan for the rest of the season. On 8th September he made his debut for his new club as a forty-fifth minute substitute for Adriano Mezavilla in a 1-3 away defeat by Reggina Calcio. after a few games as a substitute or being unused on the bench he finally made his starting debut on 28th September in a 0-3 defeat at US Palermo but gave way to Ali Sowe at half-time. He came on as a half-time substitute for Abu Diop in a 1-2 loss at Padova on 19th October, but finally managed a full game on 17th November 2013 in a 1-2 loss at AS Avellino. By the end of the season he had been involved in thirty-three games, making seventeen starts and four as a substitute but twelve times an unused substitute. He scored his first goal on 23rd November 2013 in a 2-3 loss at Trapani Calcio when he scored with a right foot shot in the thirty-fourth minute to make the score 1-2. Nearer the end of the season he did score on a more regular basis. On 15th March he scored with a right foot shot with fifteen minutes left on the clock to make the score 2-2, but they still went down at Ternana Calcio by 2-3. Ten days later he gave his side the lead on the half-hour with a header but Juve Stabia could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Padova. On 3rd May 2014 he again gave his side the lead, in the fourteenth minute, with a left foot shot but once more SS Juve Stabia failed to capitalise and again drew 1-1 at home to US Latina Calcio. A fortnight later he got his fifth goal for the season, as once more he opened the scoring, this time with a right foot shot in the eighteenth minute, but again they could only draw 2-2 at home to FC Crotone. His sixth and final goal of the season, which he scored with a header in the sixty-fifth minute was little more than a consolation as it made the score 1-3 and SS Juve Stabia went under 1-4 at Brescia Calcio on 25th May 2014. Not surprisingly Juve Stabia were relegated after finishing bottom. On 11th July 2014, Massimo Cellino announced that Leeds United had signed Doukara on a season-long loan, with an option to sign him permanently at the end of that contract. After a successful pre-season he made his League debut on 9th August 2014 in the season opener at Millwall as Leeds were beaten 0-2 but he made way for Lewis Cook after sixty-four minutes. He also started the League Cup tie at home to Accrington Stanley three days later and scored both the Leeds goals with right foot shots in the nineteenth and thirty-eighth minutes to gave them a 2-0 half-time lead as they won 2-1 at Elland Road. On 16th August 2014 he again started the first home League game of the season against Middlesbrough but had to come off after tearing his ankle ligaments in the fifty-fourth minute and was replaced by Michael Tonge as Leeds won 1-0. Despite his lay-off Leeds took up the option to sign him permanently on the final day of the transfer window, 1st September 2014, when they gave him a three-year contract. The injury meant he missed three League games and the League Cup defeat at Bradford City and he returned as a sixty-third minute substitute for Billy Sharp in a 1-1 draw at Birmingham City on 13th September 2014. He got his first League goal with a right footed shot in the sixty-seventh minute when he equalised at Bournemouth and then went on to record a famous victory by 3-1. He scored his second League goal four days later with a right foot shot in the sixty-ninth minute to seal a 3-0 home win over Huddersfield Town. Goals at Norwich City and at home to Blackpool and at Blackburn Rovers followed but he never made the starting team in the New Year an he was one of six "Italian Imports" who cried off injured before the game at Charlton on 18th April 2015. He finished the season with seventeen starts in the League and another eight games from the bench which saw him score five goals. He also scored twice in his one League Cup start and made one appearance from the bench in the F.A. Cup. He was included in the club's pre-season tour of Austria and Norway. He was given the Number Eleven shirt for the 2015-16 season. On 31st July 2015, Doukara was given the number 11 shirt for the upcoming 2015/16 season. He was out of favour under new manager Uwe Rosler and had trouble even making the squad in the first half of the year. He had one minute on the pitch in the opening game when he replaced Alex Mowatt, as caution was thrown to the wind as the home side played three attackers after Burnley had scored an equaliser two minutes before time on 8th August 2015. He did, however, get a start in the second game as United gave their non-regulars a chance in the League Cup at Doncaster Rovers on 13th August 2016, but gave way to Luke Murphy in the sixty-seventh minute. He was unused for the next two games but had four minutes after replacing Stuart Dallas in the eighty-sixth minute of the 1-1 home draw with Sheffield Wednesday. He was unused on the bench for the next three games and then did not make the squad for the next game. United's visit to the Riverside saw his longest game to date when he came on in the sixty-fourth minute to replace Jordan Botaka to play twenty-six minutes in the 0-3 loss to Middlesbrough. He was then out of the squad for four games and sat unused on the bench in the next, before he was given twenty-one minutes as Chris Wood's replacement in a 0-2 home defeat by Blackburn Rovers on 29th October 2015. There were already ninety-three minutes on the clock at home to Cardiff City, when he was given one minute to show his talents as Mirco Antenucci's replacement as United beat their Welsh foes 1-0 on 3rd November 2015. He failed to make the squad in the next fixture and then sat unused on the bench for two more before he was given one minute of the 2-1 home win over Hull City on 5th December 2015 as Chris Wood's replacement when three minutes of added time had already been played. A game unused on the bench was followed by four as a substitute. In the first of these he was sent on in the thirtieth minute to replace Tom Adeyemi as Evans switched to two strikers. He made good use of the hour, which more than doubled his playing time for the season, as he had a hand in Stuart Dallas's goal as United won 3-2 at Molineux on 17th December 2015. He made had twenty-six minutes in the 1-0 home win over Preston North End on 20th December 2015 when he replaced Luke Murphy, twenty-eight minutes in the 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest when he replaced Lewis Cook and had a hand in Sam Byram's eighty-eighth minute equaliser, fifteen minutes in a 2-2 draw with Deby County at Elland Road when he replaced Chris Wood after seventy-five minutes and with Wood out injured for a lengthy period, Doukara was given his chance to stake his claim for a regular spot. He started the next match at home to Milton Keynes Dons at Elland Road on 2nd January 2016 for his first start of the season in the League. He did not set Elland Road on fire but lasted sixty-four minutes before being replaced by Lee Erwin as the game finished 1-1. It was the start of a long run in the first team which lasted sixteen games. It saw him score his first goal of the season with a last minute strike, which sealed the 2-0 victory over Rotherham United at Elland Road on 9th January 2016. His first League goal of the season came in he very first minute of United's visit to Ipswich Town on 12th January 2016, but United conceded a goal in injury time at the end of the game to lose 1-2. His second League goal came in the fifty-ninth minute of the 1-0 home win over Bristol City on 23rd January 2016. He scored his second goal in the F.A. Cup on 30th January 2016, when he opened the scoring in the ninth minute as United went on to win 2-1 at Bolton Wanderers. He scored his third and final League goal of the season when he opened the scoring in the thirty-seventh minute of United's surprise win at Cardiff City on 8th March 2016 as United took the points with a 2-0 win. There had been an incident in United's 1-1 home draw with Fulham on 23rd February 2016 and Doukara was accused of biting the Fulham player Fernando Amorebieta. It went through the sports court and, on 31st March 2016, he was found guilty and received a £5,000 fine and an eight match ban. This covered the rest of the season other than the final match at Deepdale against Preston North End on 7th May 2016, a game which he sat unused on the bench, as United drew 1-1. He was overlooked in the initial part of the 2016-17 season, making just one start in the 1-0 away win at Luton Town in the League Cup on 23rd August 2016 and being a sixty-ninth minute replacement for Marcus Antonsson at Sheffield Wednesday three days previously and a sixty-seventh minute replacement for the same player at home to Huddersfield Town on 10th September before benefitting from Gary Monk switching from a two prong attack to a single one, with Doukara playing a role in wide midfield, both in defence and attack. He found the net for the first time in the season with a last minute goal in the 2-0 win over Burton Albion on 29th October 2016 as well as being brought down in the move that gained a penalty which Chris Wood had converted seven minutes previously. On 26th November he scored the second goal just before half-time in the 2-1 win at Rotherham United. His third goal came in the vital game at home to Reading on 13th December as his penalty in the final minute sealed a 2-0 victory for Leeds. His fourth came on Boxing Day when he scored the third Leeds goal, in the thirty-first minute, in a fine 4-1 win at Deepdale over Preston North End. He again sealed victory in a 2-0 home win over Nottingham Forest with his fifth of the season with the Leeds second goal in the seventy-fourth minute on 25th January 2017. His sixth and final goal of the season came in the 3-0 home win over Preston North End on 8th April 2017 when he got the final goal in in the last minute. He finished the season starting seventeen and coming off the bench in another seventeen in the League, while making two starts in the F.A. Cup and three in the League Cup. In the year end awards his volleyed goal against Nottingham Forest, which was likened to a Tony Yeboah thunderbolt, was voted "Goal of the Season". While sometimes featuring in the pre-season friendlies, Doukara had not made a single appearance in any competition games in the 2017-18 season. On 22nd August 2017 he was selected to play in the League Cup tie at home to Newport County, but was withdrawn as he was in discussions with the club. The following day, his contract was terminated by mutual consent. On the same day it was announced that he had joined Turkish Super League side Osmanlispor on a two year contract.