It’s a new arrival in the middle of the park for the Fleet as Ousseynou Cissé becomes the club’s second new signing of the summer.
The French-born former Paris Saint-Germain youth has spent the last three seasons in League Two and the National League and moves to the Kuflink Stadium after playing for Eastleigh in 2022/23.
Standing 6ft 5in, Cissé is another international to add to Dennis Kutrieb’s ranks, having played five times for Mali including in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers but it’s his experience in English football that will be hugely valuable to the Fleet this coming season.
The 32-year-old came out of seven years with PSG’s academy to break into senior football with Amiens in the French second and third tiers and also played for Dijon and Tours, with time in Spain and Belgium in between.
His first taste of English football arrived in 2017 when he spent two seasons with MK Dons in League One, following that up with promotion from League Two with the same club. After that, Cissé played for Gillingham before joining Leyton Orient and making 50-plus appearances in League Two. A spell at Oldham Athletic was followed by a season in Hampshire with Eastleigh where he was a mainstay in their midfield.
A defensive midfielder mainly, ‘Ouss’ can also operate in the centre of defence and said of his style of play, “I like to play football, to be on the ball and dictate the game. Because I’m tall, I’m there to win headers and I’m quite aggressive but most of my qualities are to be on the ball and to make us play.”
Watch out for the first interview with our new signing later this afternoon.