Who is Idrissa Sylla? The lowdown on QPR’s potential new signing

QPR have agreed a fee with Anderlecht for Guinean striker Idrissa Sylla, Here’s his story.

In the beginning

Sylla was born in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, on 3 December 1990. ‘Ice, Ice Baby’ was top of the UK charts and Don Howe’s QPR sat second-bottom of Division One.

In 2006, he was spotted by French club Le Mans during a tournament organised by Guinean football agent Amadou Diaby.

Motoring at Le Mans

The striker quickly graduated into the B team, before getting his first taste of senior football in the 2010-11 season with a loan spell at Bastia, then in the French third tier.

He scored seven times in 27 league games, including the last-minute goal against Creteil that clinched the title for Bastia with three games to spare.

Having helped his adopted team to promotion to Ligue 2, Sylla kept his parent club in that division the following year, scoring nine goals and finishing as the club’s joint top-scorer in his debut season in the first team.

He couldn’t prevent their relegation in 2013, however, although he did find the net against Claudio Ranieri’s Monaco, who won the second tier that year.

Belgium move

After Le Mans slipped out of Ligue 2, Sylla moved on to Belgian top-flight team Zulte Waregem.

He made four appearances in the Europa League group stage in 2013-14, including coming on as a substitute in an away win at Wigan Athletic.

In total, he scored 18 goals in 64 games during 18 months at Essevee, a record that saw him attract interest from Club Brugge and Wolves. In January 2015, while he was at the Africa Cup of Nations, his agent negotiated for him a move to Belgian giants Anderlecht.

Brussels bound

He signed a four-and-a-half year deal, only making his debut at the start of the 2015-16 season.

He made an immediate impact, scoring on each of his first three appearances, but his Europa League action was limited to four very brief substitute appearances, coming on in the closing minutes of the home and away games against Tottenham.

He netted a further four times in the league last season, and began the current campaign with three goals in his first seven matches. He might now, however, be headed for Loftus Road.

International career

Sylla made his debut for Guinea in a friendly against Ivory Coast on 29 February 2012, and has won 22 caps, scoring five goals.

He sat on the bench for the group stages of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, but did play the first half of their 3-0 defeat by Ghana in the quarter-finals.