Ibrahima Bakayoko (born 31 December 1976) is a retired Ivorian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a striker.

Club career

Playing in France with

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, Bakayoko was rated highly enough by Everton manager

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

that Smith was willing to pay £4.5 million for Bakayoko's services in October 1998. However, he failed to impress in the 23 games he played, only finding the net four times in the league (seven times in all competitions). A brief highlight was scoring twice as Everton beat

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

2–1 at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...

. He was sold for £4 million in June 1999 to

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. A spell in Spain with

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

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

Istres Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location Istr ...

, before he moved over the Alps to Italy, first with

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

and then with

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

. On 28 January 2007, he played his first

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

match for Messina against

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

. 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 A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

first round first leg against English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

. On 19 June 2008, he joined PAOK for a year. After his contract expired, Bakayoko signed a two-year contract for newly promoted

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...

on 27 July 2009.

International career

Bakayoko is a former international for

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

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

Personal life

Bakayoko is the uncle of the French footballer Ryan Bakayoko.

Honours

;

* Greek Second Division: 2010–11 ;Individual *

Greek Football League The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super Lea ...

top goalscorer: 2010–11

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakayoko, Ibrahima 1976 births Living people People from Woroba District Ivorian footballers U.S. Livorno 1915 players CA Osasuna players Everton F.C. players A.C.R. Messina players FC Istres players Association football forwards Ivorian expatriate footballers Ivory Coast international footballers French sportspeople of Ivorian descent La Liga players Ligue 1 players Montpellier HSC players Olympique de Marseille players Expatriate footballers in France Premier League players Serie A players Super League Greece players Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players Olympiacos Volos F.C. players PAOK FC players PAS Giannina F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Italy Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Stade d'Abidjan players Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Greece 1996 African Cup of Nations players 1998 African Cup of Nations players 2000 African Cup of Nations players 2002 African Cup of Nations players Stade Bordelais (football) players