Evan Ndicka: Roma's Ivorian Rock at the Back

Born on August 20, 1998, in Saint-Malo, France, Evan Ndicka began playing football at a young age and joined Ligue 2 side AJ Auxerre at the age of 13, progressing through the club's academy and making his professional debut on 27 January 2017, starting in a 1–0 win over Clermont Foot. Ndicka signed his first professional contract with the club on 5 February. He ultimately made 14 appearances for the club over the next season and a half before signing for Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt for a reported fee of €5.5m in the summer of 2018.

Ndicka quickly impressed in Germany thanks to his pace, athleticism and resolute defending, featuring regularly in the league and UEFA Europa League and earning the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month award for February 2019. From that point onwards, he only missed one match for the remainder of the season as Eintracht narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification and fell to Chelsea in the Europa League semifinals.

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It didn't take long before he was considered one of the premium defenders in Germany's top-flight, earning a spot in the 2021/22 EA Sports Bundesliga Team of the Season, with Ndicka leading Eintracht to the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League title as well as the 2022/23 DFB-Pokal Final before leaving on a free transfer after the expiry of his contract. He joined Roma on a five-year deal on June 21, 2023 -- that same month, Ndicka switched allegiances and chose to represent the Ivory Coast, having previously represented France at the U16, U17, U18, U19, U20 and U21 level.