Modou Keba Cisse could get the chance to impress Unai Emery during pre-season after helping LASK win the Austrian Bundesliga title. The defender spent last season on loan with the Austrian club after Aston Villa agreed a €5 million deal to sign him before allowing him to remain at LASK for the 2025/26 campaign.
Loan Success at LASK
Cisse made 30 appearances in all competitions and established himself as a regular in the heart of the defence, starting 26 of LASK's 32 league matches as Dietmar Kuhbauer's side clinched the Austrian Bundesliga title. Austrian football expert Dorian Schuster gave BirminghamLive the lowdown on Cisse's performances and the role he played in LASK's title-winning season.
“Cissé himself wasn’t necessarily the key player in the defence, he rather rounded up a great three or five at the back,” Schuster explained. “With Andrés Andrade called 'the boss' and Joao Tornich both heavier players, it was important for LASK to also have a young and a bit more agile center back like Cissé.”
Playing Style and Development
“Cisse is a typical centre back that up until now hasn’t played any other position. He usually has pretty good positioning and also his long passes, directed to the giants Adeniran and Kalajdzic at the top of the pitch, were really good last season. Of course, due to his age and lack of experience, he sometimes makes mistakes in the back that could have been avoided.”
Schuster highlighted a specific example of Cisse's inexperience: “A perfect example for his lack of experience was the 31st matchday, where he got himself a fatal fifth yellow card in the 92nd minute for kicking the ball away and wasting time - so he was banned in the final and decisive game of the season against Austria.”
Future Prospects
“As he has played well for the best Austrian team last season, I’d assume he could make the bench at Villa or could be loaned out to a weaker team than Villa, but stronger than LASK. Before signing for Villa, French clubs like ESTAC have been in the race, so Ligue 1 could be a possible destination. Austrian transfers usually do really well in Ligue 1.”
Cisse will turn 21 in August and has benefited from a strong developmental foundation at LASK. “In general, I’d say, the Austrian league is one of the best destinations in the world for young players to develop, mainly because Salzburg brought this concept of 'young and wild' players into the country,” Schuster continued. “LASK, however, surely isn’t the best or most famous club in Austria regarding player development, but this seems to be changing a bit now. Probably their best homegrown player in recent years was Tobias Lawal, who also got 1 cap in the national team. Outstanding is also Keito Nakamura, whom they bought from Japan for their second team and later on sold for €12 million to Ligue 1 – by far their most expensive sale ever.”
