FAST THE SHOW
Traore’s pace set pulses racing from Barca to Wolves, welcome to...
ADAMA TRAORE’S eyes flicker with fun as he tells the story of how he came to be at Barcelona and why it almost never happened. ‘We were on our holidays, I was eight at the time,’ he says, a smile spreading. ‘We went to Mali to see my family and my mum didn’t take her phone, because people from work would have been calling.
‘ When we came back we saw there was a random number that had called her many times. She wondered: “Who is this person?” They called again and this voice said: “We want Adama to go to Barcelona”. She said: “Oh wow, you’re joking!”’
With that Adama mimics slamming down a phone. His mother, Fatoumata, had decided the prank was over. Had that been the end of the conversation he might not have gone on to play alongside Neymar in the Champions League, or now be giving an audience at Wolves’ Compton Park training ground.
Fortunately Barcelona were not deterred. ‘They called her again and said: “We’re serious, we aren’t lying”.’
Adama, now 23, would join Barcelona’s La Masia academy and stay for more than a decade, studying Lionel Messi’s workrate up close and learning life lessons from Xavi, before leaving to fulfil his ambitions for senior football.
His explanation of that episode portrays a headstrong character, which continued when he turned down more gl amorous offers abroad to remain at Middlesbrough after relegation in 2017.
‘Because I was in the Championship at that time I could go to a first division somewhere,’ he says. ‘But I said no, I want to stay and get better. I want to prove to everyone in England how good I am.’
Adama’s form for Boro convinced Wolves to commit £18million for his signature, a club-record fee, and with his fearsome speed he has brought variety to Nuno Espirito Santo’s squad. Typically used off the bench in the Premier League as spaces open up later on, he has scored one goal, a winner at West Ham, and last Monday night set up a stoppage-time equaliser against Newcastle.
He is expected to begin today’s FA Cup tie at Bristol City and understands he has areas to improve to force his way into Nuno’s starting XI on a consistent basis. ‘I had to get to know the players and a lot of different tactics,’ he says .‘ At Middlesbrough the wingers play open, it was more counterattack, here we play more offensively and inside. And I have been playing as a striker as well.
‘We spent a lot of time talking about which was the best position for me to be able to explode. But the important thing for me is to not just be about pace. I can do miles better with my end product. I am quite self-critical. I know who I can be one day, so I work on it.’
Adama’s football education started alongside brother Mohamed when they were growing up in L’Hospitalet on the outskirts of Barcelona. Their uncle Sekou, who played for Mali, would train them. ‘We were running, jumping, and fighting against each other to be the best. Most of the time Mohamed was better than me.’
It was Mohamed who was signed to a club first, for Barca’s rivals Espanyol. Adama laughs as he recalls: ‘When my mum went to see him play she put on her Espanyol jacket. Then she would come see me play and she would take that off and there would be a Barcelona one underneath.’
At Barcelona, Adama appreciated first hand how even the greatest players have to apply themselves. It is why he regularly stays after training to practise further and talk t hrough t actics with manager Nuno. ‘People think Messi, Neymar don’t work, that they have God giving them a gift and that’s it. But that is not true. They’ll be the last one involved with training and they take care of a lot of things: their diet, sleeping. They’re totally dedicated. There are even machines at Barcelona that show you if drinking coffee before the game is better for you than after the game.’ Adama also had guidance on the football industry. ‘Xavi was a very good captain,’ he says. ‘He used to speak about his life. He had been in the same position as us. He would say: “Don’t be stupid, these are the people you need to speak to”.’ Adama made four appearances for Barcelona, scoring in the Copa Del Rey and coming on in a Champions League game at Ajax aged 17. But he decided to leave when he found out he had been misled about his chances of progression. Adama believed he had a clause in his contract guaranteeing pre- season with the first team but that was not the case. ‘ I was angry,’ he says. ‘I changed my agent and left the club.’ A sign of Adama’s standing could be seen by Barcelona including a three-year buyback option in the £7m deal that took him to Aston Villa but it was to be an excruciating season. Injuries and four different managers made it impossible to establish any rhythm as the campaign ended in relegation. It was while at Boro that Adama altered his running technique on the pitch after advice from Darren Campbell. ‘ He showed me that I didn’t need to be at 100 per cent speed to go past players,’ he says. ‘It gives me more time.’ Adama has settled back in the Midlands, with his girlfriend coming across from Birmingham. ‘We can achieve a lot of things if we want, anything is possible,’ he says. ‘ I can tell you we will fight for it.’