On February 2nd, Sheffield United confirmed that Ismaila Coulibaly will spend the rest of the reason on loan at AIK Fotboll, but he had to wait until later that month to complete his move to the Swedish club.
The 23-year-old has made seven appearances for the Blades since the start of last season and had hoped the transfer to AIK would help get his career back on track.
After making his debut, he revealed that AIK sporting director Thomas Berntsen played a key role in his decision to join them.
Fotbollskanalen now state the Sheffield United player’s performance in the Swedish Cup semi-final defeat to Djurgården led to criticism from AIK supporters. They were also critical of manager Henning Berg for starting Coulibaly in match.
The midfielder played 60 minutes against Djurgården and speaking to Fotbollskanalen, Berg didn’t hold back when being critical of his display.
“We sold Jonah Kusi Asare. Then we lacked an offensive player. Coulibaly was good against Mjällby, or at least okay. He wasn’t so good now against Djurgården, or he wasn’t good at all. So, he has to get better,” he said.
“I can understand that when a player is not at his best, this question comes up. When we beat Mjällby away, there were not so many people talking.”
The Sheffield United loanee has clocked in 150 minutes from three games so far for AIK. He still has time to turn things around and both the Blades and Coulibaly would be hoping that happens.
