Loyal friend, mediator and alter ego – Siramana Dembele’s importance to Conceicao

Many fans noticed that it was Sergio Conceicao’s assistant Siramana Dembélé that helped de-escalate the tension with Davide Calabria, but just who is he?

La Gazzetta dello Sport recall the events of Sunday afternoon, writing that officially Dembélé is the assistant coach of Milan but for 30 precious seconds he was the man who kept Conceiçao away from Calabria.

Before Youssouf Fofana intervened and the anger calmed, Dembélé was the only buffer between the two quarrelsome fighters. He chased Conceiçao, foreseeing the danger and stopping the encounter from becoming too close.

Who is Siramana Dembélé? He is a friend of Conceiçao and a loyal deputy. He has been working with him since 2012 and for the first time he is his assistant on paper. The friendship between Sergio and Siramana began a long time ago, in Liège, in the 2006-07 season when they were teammates at Standard.

Dembélé told So Foot: “Sergio was the icon of the club. Before meeting him I was impressed, but I love contact with people, so I went to him, uninhibited, and like a fan I asked him for a shirt. Later in the season, he gave me one of his Inter shirts that I still have with me.”