198 centimeters of pure power and a very strong arm. This is Ibrahim Lawani, the French opposite born in 2001 who will represent the department of Vero Volley Monza 23/24 together with Canadian Arthur Szwarc. The new second place in the rossoblù formation is back from a half-season in SuperLega Credem Banca among the ranks of Taranto, who he led with his flashes to safety (6 very intense appearances, enriched by 132 points, 8 aces and 6 blocks with 53.6% in attack). One of the key players in France’s youth teams, Lawani was ready to make the leap to the senior national team for VNL 2023, but a foot injury didn’t allow him to be there.
Born in Vitry-sur-Seine (French town of 90,075 inhabitants located in the Val-de-Marne department in the Île-de-France region), the new purchase of Vero Volley grew up in France Avenir (the French Club Italia which plays in Ligue B), putting himself on display as the best scorer in the league and averaging 18.2 points per game. The first appearances in the top category come in 2020, when he wears the Paris Volleyball shirt, a team with which he has played Ligue 1 on a regular basis since the 20/21 season before moving to Gioiella Prisma Taranto in January 2022.
Lawani started playing as a spiker, but at the age of 4 he decided to devote himself to the opposite role. With the Paris club he lifted a French Cup in the 2019-2020 season and has a Silver medal with the Under 22 national team at the European Championships last summer 2022, where he won the title of best opposite and top scorer of the event with 115 points, including 13 aces.
