Bafétimbi Gomis

Bafétimbi Gomis
Gomis with Swansea City in 2015
Personal information
Full name Bafétimbi Gomis
Date of birth (1985-08-06) 6 August 1985
Place of birth La Seyne-sur-Mer, France
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 Al-Hilal
Number 18
Youth career
2001–2004 Saint-Étienne
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2009 Saint-Étienne 142 (40)
2005 → Troyes (loan) 13 (6)
2009–2014 Lyon 178 (64)
2014–2017 Swansea City 64 (16)
2016–2017 → Marseille (loan) 31 (20)
2017–2018 Galatasaray 34 (29)
2018– Al-Hilal 4 (4)
National team
2001 France U17 1 (0)
2008–2013 France 12 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:44, 25 September 2018 (UTC)

Bafétimbi Gomis (French pronunciation: ​[bafetimbi ɡɔmis]; born 6 August 1985) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Saudi club Al-Hilal.

Gomis played youth football with Saint-Étienne before making his professional debut for the club in 2004, also spending time on loan at Troyes in Ligue 2. In 2009, he joined Saint-Étienne's Derby du Rhone rivals Lyon for a fee of €13 million. Over five seasons at the Stade Gerland, he played 239 official matches and scored 91 goals, winning the Coupe de France and the Trophée des Champions in 2012. In 2014, he moved to Premier League club Swansea City on a free transfer. After a loan back in France at Marseille, he signed for Galatasaray, where he was top scorer as they won the Süper Lig in 2018.

Gomis made 12 appearances for the French national team from 2008 to 2013, scoring three goals. He was a member of the squad for UEFA Euro 2008.

Club career

Saint-Étienne

Bafétimbi Gomis coming on as a substitute for Saint-Étienne.

Born in La Seyne-sur-Mer, Var, Gomis made thirteen appearances for Saint-Étienne in his first season with the club, scoring two league goals. In the next season, he made six goalless appearances for the club before going on loan to Troyes AC in a successful six-month loan deal, where he scored six goals in 13 matches. The 2005–06 season was not as successful as the previous season as he made 24 league appearances for Saint-Étienne, scoring only two league goals.

The 2006–07 season was when Gomis established himself with Saint-Étienne, scoring 10 goals in 30 appearances. Gomis continued this form into the 2007–08 season where he scored an impressive 16 goals in 34 appearances.

In the 2008 summer transfer window, Newcastle United under manager Kevin Keegan reportedly offered a transfer fee of £10 million for Gomis' services.[2] However, a move did not materialise and Gomis remained at Saint-Étienne.

In an interview with French newspaper L'Équipe, Gomis stated he was attracted by a possible move to England, but revealed Serie A would be his preference. In the weeks leading up to the 2009 January transfer window, his name was again touted in speculation surrounding various Premier League sides, though he moved to allay the rumours, stating his desire to see out the Ligue 1 season with his current club.[3]

Gomis' form in the 2008–09 season was scrutinized more heavily than it was in the previous season. Despite this, Gomis successfully netted five times in 17 league appearances, and excelled with his performances in the UEFA Cup, scoring three times in four matches.

Lyon

On 29 July 2009, Olympique Lyonnais announced that they had signed the striker for €13 million and the player had agreed to a five-year contract. With the move, Gomis became just the sixth player in French football history to transfer directly from Saint-Étienne to Derby du Rhône arch-rivals Lyon.

Gomis playing for Lyon against Brest in 2013.

On the first day of the 2011–12 Ligue 1 campaign, Gomis scored the winning goal in a 3–1 victory over Nice on 6 August 2011.[4] On 24 September, he scored a first-half brace against Girondins de Bordeaux firing his side to a 3–1 away victory.[5]

Gomis bagged four goals in the last round of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League group stage, helping Lyon to a 7–1 victory over GNK Dinamo Zagreb and progression to the Round of 16 on goal difference.[6] He also created a new record for the fastest Champions League hat-trick ever scored, beating the record owned by Mike Newell.[7][8]

On 25 February 2012, Gomis scored on a volley to bring his side level with league leaders PSG 1–1;[9] the match finished in a dramatic 4–4 draw, after Lyon was winning 4–2.[10] He replaced Alexandre Lacazette in the 70th minute in a derby match against former club AS Saint-Étienne on 17 March, and ten minutes later scored a 30-yard strike to earn his side a 1–0 victory.[11] He continued his rich vein of form against relegation-threatened Sochaux on 24 March when he converted an Anthony Réveillère cross to earn his side a 2–1 victory.[12]

Swansea City

On 27 June 2014, Gomis signed a four-year contract at Swansea City after leaving Lyon at the end of the 2013–14 Ligue 1 season on a free transfer.[13] He made his competitive debut in the opening match of the season on 16 August, replacing Wilfried Bony for the last 13 minutes of an eventual 2–1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.[14] On 26 August he scored his first competitive goal for the club in a 1–0 victory over Rotherham United in the Second Round of the League Cup.[15] Gomis scored his first Premier League goal on 9 November 2014 scoring the winner barely a minute after entering the field, as his side came from behind to beat Arsenal 2–1.[16]

At the beginning of 2015, with Bony leaving to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Gomis became the main forward for the Swans, starting the year with a brace at Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park in a 2–6 win in the FA Cup.[17] On 10 January, after equalising in a 1–1 home draw against West Ham United, he displayed a French flag in support of victims of recent shootings in Paris.[18] On 4 April 2015, Gomis scored in the 38th minute against Hull City with a volley and further sealed the victory by chipping the ball over the Hull City keeper giving him his first Premier League brace and Swansea City a 3–1 victory.[19]

Loan to Marseille

On 29 July 2016, Gomis signed on loan to Marseille for the 2016–17 season.[20][21] On 14 August, he made his debut in a 0–0 draw against Toulouse at the Stade Vélodrome.[22] On 21 November, coach Rudi Garcia made him the captain of the squad for the remainder of the season.[23]

Across all competitions, Gomis scored 21 goals in 33 matches for l'OM.[24] This included a hat-trick on 27 January 2017 in a 5–1 win over Montpellier.[25]

Galatasaray

On 28 June 2017, Gomis joined the Turkish club Galatasaray for an undisclosed fee. He was convinced to join by their former players and his friends, Didier Drogba and Aurélien Chedjou.[24] He made his debut for the Istanbul-based club on 13 July in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the Europa League away to Östersunds FK, a 2–0 loss.[26] On 14 August, he made his Süper Lig debut as his team opened the season with a 4–1 win over Kayserispor. Gomis scored twice and assisted Younès Belhanda.[27] In a game against Akhisarspor on 9 December, Gomis equalised in a 4–2 comeback win at the Türk Telekom Stadium but was later given a red card.[28]

On 23 February 2018, Gomis scored his first hat-trick in Turkey, in a 5–0 home win over Bursaspor.[29] He added four more goals on 3 March in a 7–0 victory at Kardemir Karabükspor, between the 17th and 33rd minutes.[30] He finished the campaign with 29 goals from 33 games, including the sole goal away to Göztepe S.K. to win the league title on the last day, making him the Gol Kralı (top scorer).[31]

Al-Hilal

On 24 August 2018, Gomis signed for Saudi Arabian champions Al-Hilal, on a two-year deal for a €14 million fee.[32]

International career

Born in France, Gomis was also eligible to play for Senegal through his ancestry. On 8 May 2008, he said regarding his international future "I don't have to choose between the French or Senegalese teams, as I have not been called yet. The French team? It would be pretentious to ask for it, but I am not adverse to the French team."[33]

On 18 May 2008, Gomis was called up for the provisional French UEFA Euro 2008 squad, ahead of experienced striker David Trezeguet, due to his particularly good form towards the end of Saint-Étienne's season. Gomis scored two goals in 26 minutes in a warm-up match against Ecuador on 27 May. He was the first player to score twice on his debut for the national team since Zinedine Zidane. On 28 May, he was selected in the French squad ahead of Olympique de Marseille striker Djibril Cissé. On 9 June, Gomis won his third cap by coming on as a substitute for Nicolas Anelka in the scoreless draw against Romania. On 7 October 2009, he collapsed in the training for the match against the Faroe Islands.[34]

In 2011, after a good start of the season with Lyon, Laurent Blanc called up Gomis for UEFA Euro 2012 qualification matches against Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.[35]

Personal life

Gomis has a medical condition, suspected to be Vasovagal response, that means he is liable to faint during times of stress, and this has caused him to faint during a number of matches.[36]

He is the cousin of fellow footballers Nampalys Mendy and Alexandre Mendy.[37]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 19 May 2018[38][39][40][41]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Troyes (loan) 2004–05 Ligue 2 1360000–136
Saint-Étienne 2003–04 Ligue 2 1120000–112
2004–05 Ligue 1 600000–60
2005–06 Ligue 1 2420010–252
2006–07 Ligue 1 30100033–3313
2007–08 Ligue 1 35161010–3716
2008–09 Ligue 1 361021118[lower-alpha 1]44716
Total 1424031648415949
Lyon 2009–10 Ligue 1 371021209[lower-alpha 2]25013
2010–11 Ligue 1 351020107[lower-alpha 2]24512
2011–12 Ligue 1 361464316[lower-alpha 2]55124
2012–13 Ligue 1 371611115[lower-alpha 3]24420
2013–14 Ligue 1 331432439[lower-alpha 3]34922
Total 17864148115361423991
Swansea City 2014–15 Premier League 3172231–3610
2015–16 Premier League 3361110–357
Total 64133341007117
Marseille (loan) 2016–17 Ligue 1 32202100003421
Galatasaray 2017–18 Süper Lig 332933–2[lower-alpha 3]03832
Club total 462170251521114418554216
  1. ↑ Appearances in the UEFA Cup
  2. 1 2 3 Appearances in the Champions League
  3. 1 2 3 Appearances in the Europa League

International

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