He competed professionally, other than in his country, in Switzerland, Portugal, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.
Born in Abidjan, Ouattara started his career with Africa Sports National, remaining five years with the club after which he signed for FC Sion in Switzerland.
He scored a career-best 17 goals in 30 games in the 1997–98 season, but his team could only rank seventh out of 12 in the Swiss Super League.
Ouattara played his domestic league debut for his new club in the away game in the Charmilles Stadium on 1 August 1998 as Basel were defeated 0–3 by Servette.
[1] He scored his first goal for his club on 15 August in the home game in the St. Jakob Stadium against Xamax as Basel won 2–0.