Full name Mohammed Sylla Playing position 1995–1996 Creteil Role Footballer Position Midfielder | Place of birth Bouake, Cote d'Ivoire Years Team Name Mohammed Sylla Height 1.83 m | |
Date of birth (1977-03-13) 13 March 1977 (age 38) | ||
Mohammed "Momo" Sylla (born 13 March 1977) is a retired Guinean footballer. Sylla was something of a cult figure at many of his clubs.
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Club career
Sylla started his football career at French Second Division club Creteil, on the outskirts of Paris, before moving on to Le Havre when he was 18. He also played for Le Mans in France before moving to St. Johnstone where he was considered to be a fan's favourite. His former St. Johnstone manager Sandy Clark once said: "He's so skilful. The thing about Momo is this - he doesn't even know what he's going to do, so how's a defender supposed to know?" Sylla was also considered to be quite an aggressive player during his time at St.Johnstone as he picked up 16 yellow cards.
Celtic manager signed for £650,000 in August 2001. Sylla played in a variety of different positions while at Celtic but was never a first-team regular.
Celtic released Sylla in 2005 and he then signed for Leicester City at the beginning of the 2005-06 season. He then had a short stint with Scottish Premier League club Kilmarnock in early 2007 and a trial with Nottingham Forest before moving to Moldovan club CS Tiligul-Tiras Tiraspol.
International career
Despite being born in the Ivory Coast, Sylla is a Guinean international.
Personal life
Sylla is the youngest of six children. He has two brothers and three sisters. From age 10, he was brought up by his sisters in Paris, as his mother, Massiami Bamba, and father believed that opportunities would be better for him than they were in Africa.
He is one of at least two Guinean football players commonly known as Mohammed Sylla. Another, Mohamed Lamine Sylla, played with Willem II, FC Martigues and Ayr United amongst others. The overlapping nature of the two players' careers has led to a degree of media confusion regarding the details of their transfers.
Honours
Celtic