Vakoun Issouf Bayo
Vakoun Issouf Bayo (born 10 January 1997) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Watford and the Ivory Coast national team. He is nicknamed The Crow.[1]
_2_(cropped).jpg.webp) Bayo with Toulouse in 2020 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vakoun Issouf Bayo | ||
| Date of birth | 10 January 1997 | ||
| Place of birth | Daloa, Ivory Coast | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Watford | ||
| Number | 19 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Stade d'Abidjan | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2017 | Étoile du Sahel | 11 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Dunajská Streda | 25 | (14) |
| 2019–2021 | Celtic | 9 | (2) |
| 2020–2021 | → Toulouse (loan) | 31 | (10) |
| 2021–2022 | Gent | 3 | (0) |
| 2022 | → Charleroi (loan) | 16 | (11) |
| 2022 | Charleroi | 0 | (0) |
| 2022– | Watford | 34 | (7) |
| 2023 | → Charleroi (loan) | 10 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015 | Ivory Coast U23 | 4 | (1) |
| 2018– | Ivory Coast | 2 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 October 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 3 January 2019 | |||
Club career
Dunajská Streda
Bayo joined Dunajská Streda in March 2018.[2] He made his Slovak league debut against ŠK Slovan Bratislava on 18 March 2018.[3]
Celtic
Bayo moved to Scottish Premiership club Celtic in January 2019.[4] He was left out of the Celtic squad for the later stages of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, with the club only able to register three of their four January window signings.[5] He made his debut for Celtic against Kilmarnock on 17 February 2019, coming on as a late substitute shortly before Scott Brown scored a late winner.[6][7]
Toulouse (loan)
On 12 August 2020, Bayo signed for French club Toulouse, on a one-year loan, with an additional option to buy.[8]
Gent
On 9 July 2021, Bayo signed for Belgian First Division A club Gent on a four-year deal.[9]
Charleroi
On 22 December 2021, Bayo agreed to join Charleroi on loan until the end of the season, with an option to buy.[10] On 16 May 2022, Charleroi confirmed that they had exercised the option to purchase and had signed Bayo on a contract until 2026 after a successful loan spell that saw him score eleven goals in sixteen matches.[11]
Watford
on 2 July 2022, Bayo joined EFL Championship club Watford on a five-year deal.[12]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | National cup[lower-alpha 1] | League cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Étoile du Sahel | 2015-16 | CLP-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2016–17 | CLP-1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 9 | 0 | |||
| Total | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| Dunajská Streda | 2017–18 | Slovak Super Liga | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 9 | 4 | ||
| 2018–19 | Slovak Super Liga | 16 | 10 | 3 | 5 | – | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 3 | 23 | 18 | ||
| Total | 25 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 32 | 22 | ||
| Celtic | 2018–19 | Scottish Premiership | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019–20 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 16 | 4 | ||
| Total | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 4 | ||
| Toulouse (loan) | 2020–21 | Ligue 2 | 31 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 5] | 1 | 36 | 13 |
| Gent | 2021–22 | Belgian First Division A | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3[lower-alpha 6] | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Charleroi (loan) | 2021–22 | Belgian First Division A | 16 | 11 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 11 | ||
| Watford | 2022–23[15] | Championship | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 25 | 4 | |
| 2023–24[15] | Championship | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 11 | 4 | ||
| Total | 34 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 36 | 8 | |||
| Charleroi (loan) | 2022–23 | Belgian First Division A | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 137 | 43 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 3 | 167 | 60 | ||
- Includes appearances in Slovak Cup, Scottish Cup, Coupe de France and Belgian Cup
- Appearance(s) in CAF Confederation Cup
- Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
- One appearance in UEFA Champions League and four appearances in UEFA Europe League
- Appearance(s) in Ligue 1 relegation/promotion play-offs
- Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa Conference League
References
- "Europe W2W4: Galatasaray's loss of Dagne to be Club Brugge's gain?". ESPN. 12 September 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- Vakoun Issouf Bayo posilou DAC-u 13 March 2018, fcdac.sk
- SLOVAN BRATISLAVA VS. DAC 2 - 0 18 March 2018, soccerway.com
- "Celtic: club sign Ivory Coast striker Vakoun Issouf Bayo on four-year deal". BBC Sport. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- "Celtic: No place for Vakoun Issouf Bayo in Europa League squad". BBC Sport. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- "Kilmarnock 0-1 Celtic". BBC. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
- "Scottish Premiership: Reaction after late Brown goal gives Celtic win at Kilmarnock". BBC. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
- "Celtic's Vakoun Bayo completes Toulouse loan deal as Hoops continue striker hunt". HeraldScotland.
- "WELCOME VAKOUN BAYO!". www.kaagent.be/nl (in Dutch). 9 July 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- "BIENVENUE, VAKOUN !" (Press release) (in French). Charleroi. 22 December 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- "VAKOUN BAYO DÉFINITIVEMENT ZÈBRE JUSQU'EN 2026!" [VAKOUN BAYO DEFINITELY ZEBRA UNTIL 2026!]. www.sporting-charleroi.be (in French). 16 May 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- "Official: Watford Sign Bayo". www.watfordfc.com. 2 July 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- "Official: Bayo Completes Loan Switch". Watford FC. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- Vakoun Issouf Bayo at Soccerbase
- Vakoun Issouf Bayo at Soccerway
- "Bayo, Vakoun Issouf". FitbaStats. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- "Celtic champions & Hearts relegated after SPFL ends season". BBC Sport. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.