Emmanuel Imorou


Emmanuel Philippe Imorou is a Beninese professional footballer who plays as a left back for French club Évian.

Club career

Imorou began his career in 2004 with FC Bourges, before joining the reserve team from LB Châteauroux in 2005. In 2007, he was promoted to the senior side. After two seasons of being rarely used, he was loaned out to the Championnat National club FC Gueugnon. At Gueugnon, he played non-league games and returned to Châteauroux for the 2010–11 season. For Imorou, that season was undoubtedly the most successful. Following this, he attracted much interest from clubs in France and abroad.
In the summer of 2011, he joined Primeira Liga team SC Braga on an undisclosed fee on a five-year contract. He was signed to fill in the gap in the full-back position left by Sílvio, who was sold to Atlético Madrid for €8 million. At Braga, his playing time was hampered by injuries, as well as a lack of playing time. He managed to play five games in the whole season and was mainly used as a backup in the full-back positions to Miguel Lopes and Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé. After a year with SC Braga, he left the club and signed for French side Clermont Foot of Ligue 2 in the summer of 2012 on a free transfer. On 24 June 2014, he joined the newly promoted Ligue 1 side Caen, ending a two-year career as a Clermont player.
On 22 September 2019, Imorou signed a contract with French club Évian.

International career

Imorou was born in France to Beninese parents, which grants him the right to play for the Benin national football team. He was called up the national side for the very first time 2010 to be a part of the squad which would play at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
He was called up by Michel Dussuyer, who gave him his debut as a player against Mozambique during the group stage phase, where he came on as a substitute for Félicien Singbo. His nation finished third in their group behind eventual winners Egypt and Nigeria.
Since the Africa Cup of Nations, he has been called up on a regular basis to take part in qualification games and international friendlies.

Career statistics

International