Andrew Olsson
February 3, 2026Ibrahim Diabate moves on loan to Alavés after breakout season in Sweden
Photo: Allsvenskan
Ibrahim Diabate moves on loan to Alavés after breakout season in Sweden
ASEC Mimosas youth product Ibrahim Diabate will get his opportunity on the big stage after moving on loan to LaLiga club Alavés from Swedish Allsvenskan club GAIS for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. The club has an option to purchase Diabate permanently for €2.5 million to Basque Country outlet El Correo Álava.
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One of the excellent success stories of 2025, the Ivorian poacher is rewarded with a dream opportunity after finishing the Allsvenskan season as co-leading scorer. His 18 goals in 29 league matches led GAIS to a shock third place finish in the Swedish top flight, their best league finish since 1989.
Ibrahim Diabate’s rise from obscurity
The 26-year-old previously wallowed in obscurity. Soon before his 19th birthday, he made his first move to Europe with a transfer to Spanish club Mallorca from Ivorian giants ASEC. While enjoying success with Mallorca’s reserves, he only played a little over sixty minutes for the first team between an appearance each in LaLiga 2 and the Copa del Rey.
Loans to the reserve teams of fellow Spanish clubs Sevilla and Atlético Madrid failed to lead to bigger things, causing Diabate to try his luck in Sweden with a move to second tier (Superettan) club Västerås SK in 2023. His club gained promotion to the Allsvenskan for the 2024 season but Diabate only scored once in twenty league matches as Västerås were relegated back to the Superettan.
But after GAIS took a chance on the Ivorian, he instantly rewarded the club. He scored 18 goals in 29 Allsvenskan appearances to share the league’s top scorer accolade with Danish forward August Priske in a surprise breakout campaign.
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Alavés are currently positioned in 10th place in the middle of the LaLiga table despite managing only 20 goals from 22 league matches. Their next match is on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals at home against fellow Basque club Real Sociedad before they return to LaLiga action on Sunday against Getafe, also at home.
