Ibrahima Bakayoko is an Ivorian

Côte d'Ivoire

The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...

 footballer who plays as a striker

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

 for PAS Giannina in the Greek Superleague.

Club career

Playing in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 with Montpellier Hérault Sport Club

Montpellier HSC

Montpellier Hérault Sport Club is a French association football club based in the city of Montpellier. The club was founded in 1919 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top level of French football. Montpellier plays its home matches at the Stade de la Mosson, located within the city...

, Bakayoko was rated highly enough by then Everton

Everton F.C.

Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

 manager Walter Smith

Walter Smith

Walter Smith, OBE is a Scottish football manager. His most recent job was at Scottish Premier League club Rangers.Smith had a relatively modest playing career, consisting of two spells with Dundee United which was split by a short time at Dumbarton.A pelvic injury meant he moved in to coaching at...

 that Smith was willing to pay £

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

4.5m for Bakayoko's services in October 1998

FA Premier League 1998-99

The 1998–99 FA Premier League season was the seventh season of the Premier League, the top division of English football, since its establishment in 1992. The season will always be remembered as the one in which Manchester United won a unique treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the European Cup...

. However, he failed to impress in the 23 games he played, only finding the net 4 times; Everton fans referred to Bakayoko affectionately as 'Baka-joke-o' due to his appalling performance on the football field and also "Back O the Echo" after the local daily newspaper. He was sold for £4m in June 1999 to Olympique de Marseille

Olympique de Marseille

Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...

.

A spell in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 with Osasuna

CA Osasuna

Club Atlético Osasuna, known as Osasuna, is a Spanish football team based in Iruñea-Pamplona, in the autonomous community of Navarre.Founded in 1920, it currently plays in the Spanish first division, holding home games at the 19,553-capacity Estadio Reyno de Navarra...

 followed, before Bakayoko returned for a third spell in France, this time representing FC Istres

FC Istres

Football Club Istres Ouest Provence is a French association football club based in Istres. The club was formed in 1920 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second level of French football having achieved promotion to the league following the 2008–09 season. Istres plays its home matches at the...

, before he moved over the Alps

Alps

The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

 to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, first with Livorno

A.S. Livorno Calcio

Associazione Sportiva Livorno Calcio is an Italian football club based in Livorno, Tuscany. The club was formed in 1915 and currently plays in Italian Serie B. The team's colors are dark red or maroon...

 and then with Messina. On January 28, 2007 he played his first Serie A

Serie A

Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

 match for Messina against Ascoli

Ascoli Calcio 1898

Ascoli Calcio 1898 is an Italian football club based in Ascoli Piceno, Marche. The club was formed in 1898 and currently plays in Italian Serie B, having returned to it after two seasons spent in Serie A...

.

In the summer of 2007 he joined Greek Superleague outfit AE Larissa. On 20 September 2007 he scored from 30 yards for his new side in the UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 first round first leg against English Premiership side Blackburn

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

. On June 19, 2008 he joined PAOK for a year. He has scored many vital goals so far this season saving PAOK many points in the dying minutes. This made PAOK fans love him and sing his name in every match he's playing. They also Nicknamed him Baka-goal.

Following a short transfer thriller after his contract expired, Bakayoko signed a two-years contract for the newly-promoted PAS Giannina on July 27, 2009.

International career

Bakayoko is a former international for Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire

The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...

. He made his first appearance for The Elephants in 1995.

Palmares

PAS Giannina

• • Greek Second Division
    Beta Ethniki
    Football League, former Beta Ethniki, is the second highest professional football league in Greece.-History:In its first years, the system of conduct was very intriguing. It began in 1954 as regional championship, separated in two groups, North and South. Then, the participating teams were the...
    
    : 2011

Individual

PAS Giannina

• • Top Scorer of Greek Second Division

External links