Ivorian footballer (born 1976)
Ibrahima Bakayoko (born 31 December 1976) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a forward.
Club career.
Playing in France with Montpellier, Bakayoko was rated highly enough by Everton manager Walter Smith 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 2–1 at Ewood Park. He was sold for £4 million in June 1999 to Marseille.
A spell in Spain with Osasuna followed, before Bakayoko returned for a third spell in France, this time representing Istres, before he moved over the Alps to Italy, first with Livorno and then with Messina. On 28 January 2007, he played his first Serie A match for Messina against Ascoli.
In the summer of 2007, he joined Greek SuperLeague outfit AEL. On 20 September 2007, he scored from 30 yards for his new side in the UEFA Cup first round first leg against English Premier League side Blackburn. 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 on 27 July 2009.
International career.
Bakayoko is a former international for Ivory Coast. He made his first appearance for "The Elephants" in 1995.
Personal life.
Bakayoko holds Ivorian and French nationalities. He is the uncle of the French footballer Ryan Bakayoko.
Honours.
PAS Giannina
Individual
References.
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