Mali hand Wolves star Traore first call-up

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Adama Traore (left) and West Ham United's Arthur Masuaku battle for the ball

Wednesday Sep 30, 2020. 11:00

Mali have included Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore in their squad ahead of their upcoming friendly matches.

The Eagles will be in action next month as they take on Ghana and Iran on October 09 and October 13 respectively.

Traore is yet to make a decision on his international future and he was included in the Spain squad which took part in the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League matches last month.

However, the 24-year-old player, who was born in Spain to parents of Malian descent, pulled out of the squad after testing positive for coronavirus.

The Malian Football Federation (FMF) has now enlisted the services of former Mali and Sevilla star Frederic Kanoute to try and convince Traore to commit to Mali.

“If he is listening to me right now – I am heading your way, Adama,” Kanoute told BBC Sport.

“The Mali FA has called me to say, ‘Please, please go and see him because you speak perfect Spanish so you can convince him,’ and so on.

“I would like him to [play for Mali] but I will tell him the truth that it is obviously going to be a struggle and that it is not going to be so comfortable to play for an African national team.”

Kanoute was born in France and he decided to play for Mali – scoring 23 goals in 39 international matches.

“But the people give you back so much and he has the opportunity to make something big with a very, very talented generation that we have in Mali, so I will try to convince him,” the retired striker concluded.