Yakou Méïté (born 11 February 1996) is a professional

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 lea ...

who most recently played as a striker for

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

. Born in France, he represents the

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

at international level.

Early life

Méïté was born and raised in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to Ivorian parents.

Club career

Paris Saint Germain

Méïté started his professional career at

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. He made his professional debut on 9 April 2016, in a

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

match against

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 7,115 as of 2020, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guin ...

, replacing Jean-Kévin Augustin after 91 minutes, in a 2–0 away win.

Reading

On 29 July 2016, Méïté signed a three-year contract with English side

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. He made his debut for Reading as a substitute in an

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

tie against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

on 9 August 2016, with his first goal for the club coming on 21 January 2017, during a 3–2 defeat to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. On 8 July 2017, Méïté moved to

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

, on a season-long loan deal. On 3 October 2018, Reading announced that Méïté had signed a new contract with Reading, until the summer of 2022. On his return to Reading, he became a mainstay as the club's striker and scored 6 goals in 5 games, impressing manager

Paul Clement Paul Drew Clement (born June 24, 1966) is an American attorney who served as United States Solicitor General, U.S. Solicitor General from 2005 to 2008 and is known for his advocacy before the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Cou ...

. In August 2019, Méïté spoke out about racist abuse he received on social media. He said he chose to do so due to the impact it had on players. On 4 July 2020, he scored four goals in a 5–0 win away at

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

. On 17 May 2023, Reading announced that they had offered a new contact to Méïté, with his current deal due to expire at the end of June 2023. On 21 June 2023, Méïté confirmed his decision to leave Reading at the end of his contract.

Cardiff City

On 7 July 2023, Méïté signed a two-year contract with

International career

Méïté has represented the Ivory Coast U17s and U20s. He debuted for the Ivory Coast U23s in a 5–0 friendly win over the Togo U23s on 27 March 2018. Méïté was called up to the senior

squad for a friendly against

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

in March 2018. He was selected for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

on 18 November 2018. He made his debut for the Ivory Coast on 26 March 2019, in a 1–0 victory over

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

, playing 73 minutes before being replaced by eventual goalscorer Jonathan Kodjia.

Style of play

Méïté is a physically strong player. He has impressive strength, ability in the air, speed and tireless stamina.

praised him for his workrate and willingness to battle for every ball.

Personal life

Yakou Meïté is the cousin of Bamo Meïté, who is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain U19 * Championnat National U19: 2015–16 *

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

runner-up: 2015–16 Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2015–16

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Méïté, Yakou 1996 births Living people Footballers from Paris Ivorian men's footballers Ivory Coast men's international footballers Ivory Coast men's youth international footballers Ivory Coast men's under-20 international footballers French men's footballers Men's association football wingers French sportspeople of Ivorian descent Paris Saint-Germain FC players Reading F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players Ligue 1 players English Football League players Ligue 2 players Ivorian expatriate men's footballers Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England 21st-century French sportsmen