Tiemoue Bakayoko

Tiémoué Bakayoko (born 17 August 1994) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Lorient. Bakayoko plays as a centre midfielder, but can adapt to other positions such as a box-to-box midfielder due to his ability to break up play. He is considered to have all-round ability, as well as possessing physical power and athleticism, with France manager Didier Deschamps describing him as "a complete midfielder." After suffering a fractured leg as a young player, Bakayoko joined the academy at Rennes at the age of 13. At 14, he was turned down by the Clairefontaine academy. His senior career began at Rennes, where he made 24 appearances before moving to Monaco in 2014 for €8 million. In his first two seasons at the club, Bakayoko made 31 Ligue 1 appearances, but was a regular starter in the 2016–17 season, contributing to Monaco's Ligue 1 title win as well as being named in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League squad of the season. In 2017, he joined Chelsea for £40 million, but after a poor first season with the club, he was loaned out in all future seasons. Bakayoko was eventually released by Chelsea in 2023 and signed with Lorient later that year. Bakayoko made his first senior international appearance for the France national team in March 2017.