Ismael Jabateh joins Olympique Lyon B in return to France

French-Malian centre-back Ismael Jabateh has joined Olympique Lyon B from Sturm Graz II, returning to France after a year in Austrian football.

Jabateh, 19, completed the move on 1 September 2026 and will play for Lyon’s reserve side in National 2 – Group F. The Paris-born defender stands at 1.93m and is right-footed, adding a physically imposing option to the club’s defensive ranks.

The move follows a spell with Sturm Graz II, who Jabateh joined from AJ Auxerre’s Under-19 side in July 2025. He had moved into Auxerre’s Under-19 structure from the club’s Under-17 team a year earlier, having previously played youth football with Soisy AMFC.

Jabateh’s time in Austria came as his first recorded senior-level step after progressing through the French youth system. Sturm Graz II compete in Austria’s 2. Liga, while Lyon B’s campaign takes him into France’s National 2, giving the defender a change of league and a return to the country of his birth.

He had not made an appearance for Sturm Graz II in the 2026-27 2. Liga campaign before switching clubs. The defender now joins a Lyon B side competing in the fourth tier of French football, with his arrival recorded at the start of September.

Jabateh holds both French and Malian nationality. His move to Lyon brings him back into the French game after his development at Auxerre and his subsequent season with Sturm Graz II.

The transfer also marks the latest stage of a career that began in the Paris area before taking Jabateh through Auxerre’s academy pathway and then abroad to Austria. At Lyon, he joins the club’s reserve set-up as a centre-back with experience of a different footballing environment despite his young age.

Olympique Lyon B have therefore secured Jabateh’s arrival from Sturm Graz II, with the completed transfer taking place on 1 September 2026.