Yves Bissouma left Tottenham in the summer of 2026. Here’s everything you need to know about his time at Spurs, as well as his life and career.
The Malian midfielder is known for playing with composure and class. Yves Bissouma has always had tonnes of talent, but has not always applied himself in the proper manner. That led to frustration and the odd disciplinary issue during his time in N17.
On his day, though, he was one of the most valuable and influential members of the first-team squad at Tottenham, and could undoubtedly be a real game-changer when firing on all cylinders.
Yves Bissouma’s Tottenham career
Bissouma was signed from Brighton by Antonio Conte in the summer of 2022, but he had a difficult first season under the Italian and appeared to struggle to settle at the club.
He cost a reported £25m with another £10m in add-ons (Sky Sports). His debut season with Spurs was blighted by injury and poor form, and Conte even openly criticised the midfielder for failing to fit into his system (Evening Standard).
Bissouma has enjoyed a far better time of it under Postecoglou and finally started to show the kind of quality and consistency many fans had expected when he joined the club.
He scored his first goal for Tottenham against Everton in the early stages of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign and looked to have established himself as one of Postecoglou’s preferred midfielders.
Bissouma made a total of 44 appearances across all competitions that season as Tottenham went all the way in the Europa League. Bissouma played all 90 minutes in the 1-0 win over Manchester United.
In 2025/26, however, familiar issues crept back in.
Bissouma was left out of Thomas Frank’s squad to face Paris Saint-Germain in the European Super Cup and it set the tone for a difficult season. A knee issue, along with those disciplinary issues saw a slow start to the season, before a severe ankle injury sustained on international duty with Mali saw him need surgery.
Bissouma made only 11 appearances for the Lilywhites and was released upon the expiry of his contract in the summer.
Why was Yves Bissouma suspended by Tottenham?
There have been a number of issues with Bissouma’s behaviour over the years.
Most notably, he was suspended internally at the start of the 2024/25 season after being caught on social media posting videos of himself inhaling laughing gas.
He shared a clip of himself using nitrous oxide just before the opening weekend of the Premier League season, and Postecoglou said the midfielder had ‘failed his duties’ as a player representing the club (Guardian). Bissouma was suspended as a result and missed the first game of the campaign against Leicester City.
Postecoglou wanted Bissouma to earn back his trust and learn from the mistake. He was given the chance to redeem himself in the second weekend of the season and was handed a start against Everton, and he made good on that opportunity by scoring a great goal in the game as Spurs won 4-0.
Those issues crept back in under Thomas Frank, though. As stated, Bissouma was dropped from the squad due to persistent lateness.
Disciplinary issues have occurred on the field, too.
Bissouma picked up a foolish red card for diving in a game against Luton in the 2023/24 season. He was also sent off against Nottingham Forest for a straight red card in December of last year leading to a three-game suspension.
Where has Yves Bissouma played before?
Bissouma began his career with Malian outfit Bamako, before joining French side Lille. He moved to the Premier League from there, joining Brighton and spending four years there.
He made the switch to Lille in 2016 and made 55 appearances for their first-team (as well as a further ten for the B team). Bissouma scored four goals and registered two assists competitively.
Bissouma joined Brighton in a deal believed to have been worth around £15m in the summer of 2018, and he made a real impact as the Seagulls entertained and impressed under Graham Potter.
He made 124 appearances during his time at Brighton, scoring six goals and adding three assists (Transfermarkt).
Yves Bissouma international career stats
Yves Bissouma is a regular for his country, and even captained Mali in the international break in September 2024.
He made his international debut way back in 2015 and, at the time of writing, has 37 caps to his name (Transfermarkt). Over the years since his first cap, Bissouma has found himself left out of the Mali setup, be it through injury or simply being out of favour.
In Mali’s African Cup of Nations qualifiers in September 2024, Bissouma was given the captain’s armband by his country, and made the most of that honour by scoring a goal in both games as part of the double-header.
Yves Bissouma personal info and social media
Bissouma stands at 1.82m tall and weighs 80kg, making him a very lean physical presence.
He was born on August 30, 1996, making him 29-years-old at the time of writing. Although he was born in Issia in the Ivory Coast, he opted to pursue his international career with Mali, whom he was also eligible for through his parents.
Bissouma is quite a private person, but we do know he is happily married and has a child.
He is fairly active on Instagram, where he has over 880,000 followers. Bissouma also has a Twitter/X account with close to 81,000 followers, but he is not active on that platform any longer.
To get to know more of the Tottenham first-team squad, check out our profiles on Cristian Romero and Dominic Solanke. You can also dive into our rundown of the club’s greatest legends.