Former Blackpool midfielder Sessi D’Almeida has joined Cypriot side Apollon Limassol, subject to a medical.
The 28-year-old defensive midfielder had been plying his trade in the French second division, but he joins a Limassol side seeking to reignite their fortunes after finishing outside of the top six in Cyrpus last season.
That was a significant blow for the club, which had previously enjoyed European football for nine successive seasons. In 2023, they qualified for the Champions League, only to be knocked out by Maccabi Haifa in the third qualifying round.
Rather ironically, D’Almeida made his competitive debut against the same opposition, appearing for Bordeaux in the 2013 Europa League group stages, another in which the Israeli side emerged victorious. It was one of just two senior appearances he made for the French outfit before a move to PSG.
As with Bordeaux, he appeared for the ‘B’ team regularly in Paris, but in this instance, he didn’t make a senior appearance; that led Barnsley to sign him on a two-year deal as a free agent, but his time in Yorkshire was not a success, and he left in 2017 with just three outings to his name.
His most regular football came in League One with Blackpool, with 23 outings and no goals. He appeared 27 times for the Tangerines, scoring once in the EFL Trophy. However, after a single season, his time on the West Coast was up, and he moved against, this time into League Two. Yeovil were his next employers, and he was a regular starter as they dropped out of the Football League.
Since then, France has been his home, firstly Valenciennes and then Pau FC, both in Ligue 2. However, his move to Limassol will see him once again appear in the top flight, adding to the two outings he had in Ligue 1 with Bordeaux before his PSG move.
Despite his nomadic existence in his club career, D’Almeida has been a regular for his country. Born in Bordeaux, he represents the African nation Benin, for whom he has appeared 26 times, scoring once. He was a part of the Benin side that reached the quarter-finals of AFCON in 2019, appearing in their narrow 1-0 defeat to Senegal in the last eight.
Writer’s View
D’Almeida’s career trajectory has been odd. It was quite a fall for a player to go from Bordeaux to Yeovil in five years, from playing European football on his debut to tumbling out of the Football League in England.
This move completes a redemption story for the 28-year-old, who is still young enough to make a mark on the game. Limassol could be described as a stumbling giant of Cypriot football, a side that expects much more than the finish they achieved this season.
With his vast and varied experience, perhaps Sessi D’Almeida is one player who can help them get back on top in Cyprus and deliver him European football once again.
