APR striker Djibrine Ouattara is taking the Rwanda Premier League by storm. Despite arriving mid-season, the Burkinabe star has shown his prowess as he continues to score goals for fun. He has scored 10 goals so far this season, including 8 in the domestic league and two in the Peace Cup. The 1.84 metre striker is a lethal weapon as his versatility saw him play anywhere across the top line with top notch performance. APR had been poor in attack in the first round of the season and, in Ouattara, Darko Novic had a savior, a true goal machine. Whoever scouted the Burkinabe striker deserves so much credit. Ouattara's rise to stardom was so swift. As in 2016, he was playing in the Burkinabe Ligue 3 with Vitesse. He moved to ASF Bobo Dioulasso in 2017 and, the following year, he scored 15 goals as they won the league title. He later moved to Moroccan giants RSK Berkane where he spent six years, helping the club win the CAF Confederation Cup in 2019/2020, Moroccan Cup in 2022/23 as well as the CAF Winners Cup the same year. His spell at Berkane ended in 2023 when he joined domestic rivals Raja Casablanca but things did not go well. Subsequent transfer saw him move to Algerian outfit JS Kabylie where he lasted 6 months before terminating his contract in January 2025. He was then snapped up by APR to boost their attack, and he is now back to his prime where everything he touches turns to gold. Boasting of relatively fair figures with 12 goals and 2 assists in 86 appearances for RS Berkane; 8 goals and 2 assists in 24 games for OC Safi and 1 goal and an assist for JS Kabylie in 11 games, Ouattara has good stats considering the fact that he rotates between centre forward, left wing and right wing. He is sometimes even deployed to playing attacking midfield. His 4 goals in 19 CAF Confederation Cup games for RS Berkane are also encouraging statistics which give APR hope that his contribution can make an impact when the club returns to African club football stage next season. What did Ouattara bring to APR? APR’s attack was underperforming in the first round of the season and it affected the club’s performances in the league. Their top scorer was Lamine Bah who primarily plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder. Mamadou Sy, who was the lone active centre forward, had scored two goals which both came on penalties against Vision FC whereas Victor Mbaoma had not even played a single game. ALSO READ: Ouattara and Mgisha on target as APR end eight-year Peace Cup jinx Ouattara brought stability to the team and eventually relieved players such as Lamine Bah who carried the extra burden of scoring goals. With Ouattara in attack, Bah and others turned providers and APR started to increase their goal per game ratio. Again, he brought dynamism into the team. Darko Novic now has the luxury of playing any attacking formation he wants because Ouattara is versatile and can adapt to every style. Watching APR games, one could see Ouattara always starting from the right side of attack but ends the game as the target man. This has become so confusing for defenders as he is able to drag them to whichever direction he wants. It also helps other players to capitalize on the spaces he creates. Looking at APR currently, Ouattara has made their attack fearsome again. He has proven his ability to not only as a goal scorer; he can also create. In the Peace Cup final against Rayon Sports, he singlehandedly tore the Blues defense into shreds. People should not be surprised by his exploits because this is a striker who has 18 caps to his credit for the Burkina Faso national team, where he scored two goals. The 25-year-old attacker credits his early success at APR to team work and he lauded his colleagues for being there for him. It is true that my performance is good, it is due to the collective efforts of my mates. Since my arrival, my teammates happily welcomed me and it is a pleasure as we play collectively. Collective work pays, Ouattara told the press after Sunday's Peace Cup victory. As Darko Novic stated, Ouattara is an amazing player who has changed the fortunes of APR. The tireless forward know he still has unfinished business as he bids to lead APR in their race for the title as the club pushes to finish the season with a double.
