Recently, many football fans have been wondering about the fate of the talented Ilaix Moriba since his painful Barcelona exit. Known for his physicality and creativity on the pitch, Moriba has often been compared to two football greats: French star Paul Pogba and Ivory Coast legend Yaya Touré.
In this biography, we explore the life of Ilaix Moriba, a Guinean-born footballer who has made a name for himself in the sport. We’ll start with his early years, growing up with his two brothers, Lass Kourouma and King Siriki Kourouma. His family, originally from Guinea, migrated to Spain when Ilaix was still a child, and he began his football journey at the RCD Espanyol academy.
Growing Up, Football Fame, and Beyond: Ilaix Moriba’s Journey.
At Espanyol, Ilaix quickly distinguished himself as a standout player, frequently giving Barcelona’s youth teams a tough time. His impressive Starboy performances caught the attention of FC Barcelona, who, much like they did with Pablo Gavi, managed to lure the young talent away from their city rivals.
Now, let’s delve into the full story of Ilaix Moriba, from his early days to his rise in the world of football.
Preamble:
The article on Ilaix Moriba delves into more than just his technical skills on the pitch. It provides an in-depth look at his childhood, early life, and family background, including details about his parents, Aissata Kourouma (mother) and Mamady Kourouma (father).
To give you a taste of Ilaix Moriba’s captivating story, we’ve included a gallery showcasing his early years and rise in football. The images below offer a visual summary of his journey.
The Biography of Ilaix Moriba: A captivating collection of Ilaix Moriba’s early years, capturing the milestones that shaped his path to football stardom.
Yes, you and I know he is a youngster destined for sporting greatness.
Despite the accolades attributed to the young talent, our team realized – that not many fans know Ilaix Moriba’s Life story. We have taken our time to produce his story – for the love of football. Now, without further ado, let’s begin.
Ilaix Moriba Childhood Story:
For Biography starters, he bears the nickname – ‘The Pogba of Barca’. Moriba was born on the 19th day of January 2003 to a Guinean mother, Aissata Kourouma and a Liberian father, Mamady Kourouma.
His birthplace is Conakry, Guinea’s capital city in West Africa.
Circumstances Before His Birth:
To tell the truth, he could have been born and bred in Liberia if not for the civil war that ravaged his father’s country.
Growing Up:
The Central midfielder is one of few sons born of the union between his parents. As far as we know, Ilaix grew up alongside these two of his brothers. Pictured left is Lass Kourouma, and on the right is King Siriki Kourouma.
Meet Ilaix Moriba’s brothers – Lass Kourouma and King Siriki Kourouma.
Ilaix Moriba Family Background:
Thanks to his FC Barcelona’s success, many Football fans in Liberia and Guinea now hear about the Kourouma household. From the beginning (since his childhood), nobody knew Ilaix Moriba’s family.
Research shows that the Barcelona midfielder never started life as a rich kid. Ilaix Moriba comes from a middle-class family whose members were fortunate to migrate from Guinea to Spain – during his infancy years.
Ilaix Moriba Family Origin:
According to the Liberia blog – SportsOnline, his Dad and Mum are from two separate West African countries – Liberia and Guinea. Although born in Conakry (Guinea), the country of his mother, Ilaix Moriba’s family roots are not the capital.
As African culture permits, his father’s place, the interior region of Lofa County in Liberia, is his origin. This is where his Dad, Mamady Kourouma, comes from.
Not to forget, George Weah is the incumbent President of Liberia – the West African country where Ilaix’s Dad hails. The Second Liberian Civil War, which seized the country from 1999 to 2003, made many of its citizens flee to nearby Guinea.
For this reason, Ilaix Moriba wasn’t born in his Dad’s country of origin, which is pictured on the map below.
The Liberian civil war was the reason why Ilaix Moriba’s dad fled the country for Guinea.
In his mother’s West African home country, Ilaix Moriba first saw the breadth of life. Exactly seven months after he came to the world, the Second Liberian Civil War ended – in his Dad’s homeland.
In Guinea – two years after his birth – harsh economic realities forced Ilaix Moriba’s parents to leave the West African country for Spain. This is a map that shows where his mother’s country of origin.
This is Guinea, Ilaix Moriba’s mother country of birth. Harsh economic realities made his family migrate to Spain.
Ilaix Moriba Education:
Since he was a child, it’s been his dream to play football for a living. Ilaix Moriba’s parents insisted he go to school and follow his passion.
Precisely at Cornellà de Llobregat (a municipality in Catalonia, Spain), the youngster had his early education. While there, he got more exposed to the game and began attending soccer trials – at the tender age of eight.
Ilaix Moriba Football Story:
Since he was a child, the young starlet was used to the beautiful feeling of singing FC Barcelona’s Força Barça! The phrase means “Strength to Barca”. By implication, he had dreamt of football from the start. This is the song that stirred Ilaix Moriba’s intention of wanting to become a footballer.
Força Barça is a big chant used to support the big Spanish club. In fact, not just him but all members of Ilaix Moriba’s family were Barca fans. It was our boy’s wish to begin his career with the Spanish club.
Contrary to his FC Barca expectations, beginning life there didn’t happen. Ilaix, in 2008, started with RCD Espanyol. As observed from the map, this is a neighbouring academy – just 11 minutes away from FC Barcelona’s home ground.
In the RCD Espanyol academy, a lot of people who knew him back then could testify that Moriba really stood out among his teammates.
Bearly a year after his stay in the football school, he became one of the hottest soccer kids in Catalonia.
One man, Oscar Hernandez, who worked as a coach with Barcelona’s youth academy in 2007, vividly remembers what Ilaix Moriba did to his team.
He describes the boy as someone who did cause Barca’s youth teams lots of trouble. This happened each time he turned up to play against them as an Espanyol player. Speaking with the Spanish media, Oscar once said,
EVERY TIME ILAIX MORIBA PLAYED WITH HIS ESPANYOL TEAM AGAINST BARCA’S LE MASIA, THEY SUFFERED A LOT.
THE BOY WAS SO GOOD AND VERY DESTRUCTIVE TO HIS OPPONENTS.
ILAIX WAS ON A DIFFERENT DIMENSION – MORE DEVELOPED PHYSICALLY THAN THE OTHER PLAYERS. BECAUSE HE CAUSED US GRAVE PROBLEMS, BARCA HAD TO SIGN HIM.
Early Life with La Masia:
Trust FC Barcelona! They finally bullied their neighbours (RCD Espanyol) to snatch the young boy from them – as they did to Pablo Gavi (from Real Betis) and Pau Cubarsi (from Girona).
As soon as Ilaix joined Barca in 2010, he fulfilled his childhood dream of meeting his biggest idol. He is no other than Barcelona legend – Lionel Messi. Football gave him the opportunity to stay closer and learn from the Argentine icon.
Ilaix Moriba met Lionel Messi as a Child.
On the pitch, Ilaix Moriba wasn’t the identikit possession-based Barca-type midfielder. This is because he is big, has an impressive physique, is aggressive, and has a ball-winning personality that matches his size.
The Guinean starlet was the type always looking to knock players out of his way to get on the ball. Not to mention, he played alongside Ansu Fati in La Masia.
Thankfully, both have grown up and established a close relationship with one another.
Road to Fame Story:
Our boy attained the biggest fame of his youth career in a WONDER GOAL, which he scored in August 2018. On that wonderful day, Real Madrid’s Juvenil B team (under 19s) travelled across Spain to the Catalan coast.
In a pre-season tournament, they ran into Barcelona, who trashed them 5-0. Real Madrid fans will never forget one boy in particular who broke their hearts.
The scary 15-year-old kid, Ilaix Moriba, scored a GOAL WONDER. His fans cannot forget this goal in a hurry.
According to many soccer pundits, that goal showed that Ilaix had something special. He possessed an attribute that differentiated him from other academy players (before and after his set) who grazed the No. 6 positions.
Ilaix Moriba Bio – The Success Story:
Did you know?… Barcelona nearly lost Moriba when he turned 16. During that time, several of Europe’s top clubs (Chelsea, Juventus, and Man City) circled, sniffed, and begged for the youngster’s signature.
FC Barcelona feared because of their past. Remember, they have once lost several key talents at this juncture—from Cesc Fabregas to Gerard Pique and then Eric Garcia.
Jonathan Barnett, the owner of Stellar Football LTD, became the starman of that moment. He is Gareth Bale’s agent, and he won the race to represent Ilaix Moriba.
According to Forbes magazine, this hard man is the world’s biggest football agent.
Defying the Odds: Ilaix Moriba’s triumphant journey to Barcelona stardom, thanks to the guidance of renowned agent Jonathan Barnett.
The super-agent ensured that FC Barcelona broke out their chequebook to save their young talent. The tough negotiation battle involved Ilaix Moriba’s Dad, Mamady Kourouma – who is also in the business.
At last, Ilaix got a two-million-euro salary with a termination clause of 100 million euros. Thanks to those wages, his family’s financial well-being was changed forever.
The Unforgettable Debut:
His extraordinary capacities, which he displayed at FC Barca’s lower rank, excited Ronald Koman, who then considered him for the first team. The Dutch coach brought the ‘jewel’ in the middle of a troublesome time for his team.
Ilaix Moriba couldn’t sleep the night before his debut. At 18 years and 25 days old, he became the youngest player to provide an assist since the turn of the century. Moriba assisted Francisco Trincão in his La Liga debut. Barely a month later, he repays the club’s faith in him by scoring on his debut.
Hitting the back of the net sent shock waves to the global football community, thus making lots of fans ask… Who is Ilaix Moriba? This was what resulted in us writing his Biography.
Without a doubt, FC Barcelona is on the verge of seeing one of their own blossoming his way upwards. Ilaix is fast becoming the best central midfielder in the world.
The photo below tells his full story. It makes you agree with us that the future is indeed always pregnant. As we say of Ilaix Moriba Bio, the rest is now history.
Having hope changes everything. This is the story of Ilaix Moriba.
Personality:
Getting acquainted with the midfielder’s off-pitch activities would help you get a better picture of his persona. In this section, we’ll answer the question: who is Ilaix Moriba outside of football? First things first, he is an avid video gamer who grew up loving the PlayStation.
Playing FIFA remains his oasis, the perfect activity to cool off whenever things get intense. Put simply, he uses that to cope with his feelings.
We see Ilaix Moriba here, holding a Playstation 5 Console just after it’s launch. He enjoys gaming with his brothers. He enjoys gaming with his brothers.
Since his childhood, playing video games has positively affected Ilaix’s family dynamic – in a good number of ways. For example, it has strengthened the bond between him and his brothers.
Workout Routine:
Also, in his personal life, the footballer has a cool way of breaking his sweat. In the area of exercise, he does the bulk of his gyming activities on the roof of his family home.
Lifestyle:
It’s no secret that he loves to make the things (Luxury SUV car, House, etc.) he owns to be white in colour. In this section, we’ll tell you about Ilaix Moriba’s lifestyle. We
Ilaix Moriba Car:
We sensed that having an exotic ride must have been one of his biggest buy-wish before he became rich.
Ilaix Moriba owns a Land Rover Discovery Sport Car, which costs around 45,000 Euros. We picture him, alongside his brothers, in what looks like his SUV launch.
Ilaix Moriba’s car is spotless. There is nothing like football money.
A view at Ilaix Moriba’s House:
Have you noticed that the dwelling place of the footballer has a relationship with the colour of his car? They are all-white, which appears to be his favourite colour. The white pervades of Ilaix Moriba’s House represent purity in his person.
The perfect interior of Ilaix Moriba’s house.
Ilaix Moriba Family Life:
They were all by his side when he was a nobody in football. These are the members of Ilaix Moriba’s immediate family. This section will tell you more about them, starting with the household’s head.
About Mamady Kourouma, Ilaix Moriba’s Father:
First thing first, he is no stranger to the art of negotiation or what it’s like to preside over a transfer. Mamady has knowledge of the football business.
He makes every decision for his sons. The proud Dad is the type who does not allow people to influence him – telling him what to do or trick him.
Ilaix Moriba’s Father, Mamady Kourouma, takes a no-nonsense approach to the football business.
Aside from his son’s salary, Mamady once secured an additional 2.5 million from FC Barcelona during intensive contract negotiation. He shared the money among his household members and Jonathan Barnett (Ilaix Moriba’s agent).
Mamady Kourouma’s family has truly come a long way from Africa. He moulded Ilaix into what we see today.
Owing to his son’s success, Mamady is constantly being seduced by teams. These clubs want to pay his family millions to have Ilaix play for them.
About Aissata Kourouma, Ilaix Moriba’s Mother:
Great African mums have produced celebrated soccer stars, and she is not an exception. Upon scoring his Barca first goal, Ilaix dedicated it to his mother’s achievement.
He made the world realize that she had been with him through thick and thin. More so, through her, he got educated very well.
About Ilaix Moriba’s Brothers:
The god of Soccer blessed the Kourouma family with footballing sons who know how to complement each other.
The most popular of Llaix Moriba’s brothers is Lass Kourouma, who plays for Levante UD – at the time of writing. This is the closest of the brothers in their Spanish family home.
Lass Kourouma is pictured alongside his super-successful brother.
Another brother is King Siriki Kourouma, who is also a footballer. As of 2021, he plays for CE Sabadell FC. This is a Spanish football team in the city of Sabadell, the province of Barcelona. Like Lass, he is a big supporter of Ilaix – the family’s breadwinner.
Ilaix Moriba doesn’t have a girlfriend as I write his Bio; his brother, King Siriki, is big on dating.
Ilaix Moriba Facts:
Rounding up our professional footballer’s Biography, we’ll use this section to reveal more truths about him. Without wasting time, let’s begin.
The Natural Destiny with a Brother:
Ilaix’s first goal for Barca coincided with Ansu Fati. Did you know? Both footballers scored their first-ever goal precisely in the same away stadium. More so, they were part of Barcelona’s youth setup.
Ilaix Moriba Religion:
His parents’ names are Arabic and widely used in Islamic West Africa. Islamic region accounts for 85% of Guineans. Ilaix is among the 4.45% of Spanish citizens who are Muslims.
Ilaix Moriba FIFA Profile:
Dear Career mode lovers. Suppose you are looking to build your squad containing young footballers with great prospects. We recommend Ilaix Moriba as your central midfield choice.
Along with young starlets like Ji-Jana Hoever, he would help transform your team. Again, you’ll find his sprint speed very impressive in the seasons to come.
Moriba is a footballer with great potential.
Conclusion:
The life story of Ilaix Moriba, the forgotten Barcelona wonderkid, began in Africa, precisely in Guinea. Moving to Spain with his family, he embraced a big sports world.
Since then, he, alongside his brothers, decided that football would be a major part of their future. With his parents’ support (Aissata and Mamady Kourouma), our boy is glad to have achieved his life goals.
The entire Biography of Ilaix Moriba is all about self-belief and confidence. Now that he is successful, the big question is: Would he join the Guinean national team?
If Ilaix does, then he will become a national hero. Many Guinea fans can’t wait to have him pair alongside Naby Keita.
Thanks for staying with us throughout our memoir on Ilaix Moriba. As always, we strive to bring you African Football Stories. The Childhood Story of Cheick Doucouré and Boulaye Dia would interest you. Kindly alert us if you notice anything that doesn’t look right in this Bio about the Guinean-born footballer.
