Soualiho Meïté

Soualiho Meïté (born 17 March 1994) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Super League Greece club PAOK

Soualiho Meïté

Personal information
Date of birth	(1994-03-17) 17 March 1994 (age 31)
Place of birth	Paris, France
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	PAOK
Number	8
Youth career
2002–2006	Gobelins
2006–2007	Vincennes
2007–2011	Auxerre
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2013	Auxerre B	30	(2)
2011–2013	Auxerre	22	(1)
2013–2016	Lille B	19	(2)
2013–2017	Lille	30	(0)
2016–2017	→ Zulte Waregem (loan)	52	(1)
2017–2018	Monaco	2	(0)
2018	→ Bordeaux (loan)	18	(1)
2018–2021	Torino	82	(3)
2021	→ AC Milan (loan)	16	(0)
2021–2025	Benfica	17	(0)
2022–2023	→ Cremonese (loan)	31	(0)
2023–2024	→ PAOK (loan)	30	(1)
2025	→ PAOK (loan)	10	(0)
2025–	PAOK	2	(0)
International career‡
2009	France U16	5	(0)
2010–2011	France U17	17	(1)
2012–2013	France U19	7	(0)
2013–2014	France U20	2	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 31 August 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 2 May 2014

Club career

Early career

On 14 March 2011, Meïté signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with Auxerre. He was subsequently promoted to the senior team by manager Laurent Fournier and assigned the number 32 shirt. Meïté made his professional debut on 20 November in a 2–1 defeat against Valenciennes, appearing as a substitute.^[2]

Monaco

On 17 June 2017, Meïté was transferred to Monaco for €8 million. He made his debut for the club on 16 September that year.

On 2 January 2018, Meïté was loaned to Bordeaux. He scored his first goal on 15 April in a 3–1 away win against Montpellier.^[3]

Torino

On 10 July, Meïté was signed by Italian club Torino through an equal exchange with full-back Antonio Barreca, who moved to Monaco.^[4] He made his debut for the Granata on 12 August during Coppa Italia against Cosenza (4–0) as a starter. He scored his first goal for the club on 26 August in a 2–2 draw against Inter Milan at San Siro.^{[citation needed]}

On 14 January, Meïté signed with AC Milan, on loan from Torino with an option to buy.^[5]

Benfica

Meïté joined Portuguese club Benfica in July 2021, signing a contract until 2026.^[6] The next stop in Meite's career was Benfica. In Lisbon he made 27 appearances before leaving on loan for Cremonese in the 2022–23 season, where he made 35 appearances and produced two assists.^[7]

PAOK

On 27 August 2023, Meïté joined PAOK on loan with an option to buy.^[8] The agreement for the 29-year-old French midfielder is for an option of four million euros, with the Lusitanians retaining a resale percentage (30%). Meïté made his debut with PAOK against OFI as a substitute on 3 September 2023. On 5 October Soualiho was named Fans' Man of the Match with a percentage of 31% against Eintracht Frankfurt in Toumba for the 2nd matchday of the UEFA Europa Conference League 2023-24 group stage.^[9] He scored his first goal for the club on 14 January in a 4–0 win against PAS Giannina at Toumba.

On 26 June 2025, PAOK triggered the option to buy Meïté. The French midfielder signed a contract for one year with the option for another year.^[10]

International career

Born in France, Meïté is of Ivorian descent.^[11] A former France youth international, he represented his nation at under-16 and under-17 level. He played with the under-17 team at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Career statistics

As of match played 10 April 2025

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Auxerre B	2010–11	CFA	4	0	—		—		—		4	0
	2011–12		20	2	—		—		—		20	2
	2012–13		6	0	—		—		—		6	0
	Total		30	2	—		—		—		30	2
Auxerre	2011–12	Ligue 1	2	0	0	0	0	0	—		2	0
	2012–13	Ligue 2	20	1	0	0	2	1	—		22	2
	Total		22	1	0	0	2	1	—		24	2
Lille	2013–14	Ligue 1	19	0	3	0	1	0	—		23	0
	2014–15		8	0	1	0	2	0	3[c]	0	14	0
	2015–16		3	0	—		1	0	—		4	0
	Total		30	0	4	0	4	0	3	0	41	0
Lille B	2013–14	CFA	2	0	—		—		—		2	0
	2014–15		8	0	—		—		—		8	0
	2015–16	CFA 2	9	2	—		—		—		9	2
	Total		19	2	—		—		—		19	2
Zulte Waregem (loan)	2015–16	Belgian Pro League	12	0	—		—		—		12	0
	2016–17		40	1	6	1	—		—		46	2
	Total		52	1	6	1	—		—		58	2
Monaco	2017–18	Ligue 1	2	0	—		0	0	1[d]	0	3	0
Bordeaux (loan)	2017–18	Ligue 1	18	1	1	0	—		—		19	1
Torino	2018–19	Serie A	35	2	3	0	—		—		38	2
	2019–20		33	0	1	0	—		6[e]	0	40	0
	2020–21		14	1	2	0	—		—		16	1
	Total		82	3	6	0	—		6	0	94	3
AC Milan (loan)	2020–21	Serie A	16	0	1	0	—		4[e]	0	21	0
Benfica	2021–22	Primeira Liga	17	0	1	0	4	0	5[d]	0	27	0
Cremonese (loan)	2022–23	Serie A	31	0	4	0	—		—		35	0
PAOK (loan)	2023–24	Super League Greece	30	1	5	0	—		7[f]	0	42	1
	2024–25		6	0	—		—		2	0	8	0
	Total		36	1	5	0	—		9	0	50	1
PAOK	2025–26	Super League Greece	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
Career total			345	11	28	1	10	1	26	0	421	13

1. Includes Coupe de France, Belgian Cup, Coppa Italia, Taça de Portugal, Greek Football Cup
2. Includes Coupe de la Ligue, Taça da Liga
3. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
5. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

Zulte Waregem

• Belgian Cup: 2016–17

Benfica

• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2023^[12]

PAOK

• Super League Greece: 2023–24^[13]