Bafétimbi Gomis

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

Born in La Seyne-sur-Mer, Var,[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

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.

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.[7] On 24 September, he scored a first-half brace against Girondins de Bordeaux firing his side to a 3–1 away victory.[8]

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.[9] He also created a new record for the fastest Champions League hat-trick ever scored, beating the record owned by Mike Newell.[10][11]

On 25 February 2012, Gomis scored on a volley to bring his side level with league leaders PSG 1–1;[12] the match finished in a dramatic 4–4 draw, after Lyon was winning 4–2.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15]

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.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19]

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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]

On 29 July 2016, Gomis signed on loan to Marseille for the 2016–17 season.[23][24] On 14 August, he made his debut in a 3-1 loss against Toulouse at the Stade Vélodrome.[25] On 21 November, coach Rudi Garcia made him the captain of the squad for the remainder of the season.[26]

Across all competitions, Gomis scored 21 goals in 33 matches for l'OM.[27] This included a hat-trick on 27 January 2017 in a 5–1 win over Montpellier.[28]

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.[27] 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.[29] 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.[30] 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.[31]

On 23 February 2018, Gomis scored his first hat-trick in Turkey, in a 5–0 home win over Bursaspor.[32] He added four more goals on 3 March in a 7–0 victory at Kardemir Karabükspor, between the 17th and 33rd minutes.[33] 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).[34]

On 24 August 2018, Gomis signed for Saudi Arabian champions Al-Hilal, on a two-year deal for a €7 million fee.[35] The club finished as runners-up to Riyadh rivals Al-Nassr due to a dip of form in the final stretch of the season from Gomis and the rest of the team.[36] With 21 goals, he was joint second top scorer behind the rivals' Abderrazak Hamdallah.[37]

Gomis scored 11 goals in the 2019 AFC Champions League, finishing the tournament as the top scorer, and contributing to winning the competition for Al-Hilal for the first time in 19 years.[38] In the second leg of the 2019 AFC Champions League Final on 24 November, he scored the second goal in a 2–0 away win over Urawa Red Diamonds, which saw Al-Hilal win the title with a 3–0 aggregate victory; the title also allowed the team to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup.[39] On 14 December, He led Al Hilal into the semi final of 2019 FIFA Club World Cup and scored the only goal of the match against African Champions Espérance de Tunis. Also on 21 December, He played in the second half of third position game in Club World Cup against Concacaf Champion CF Monterrey and scored a goal at 64 minutes that leveled the match 2-2. He also scored in a penalty shoot-out, but unfortunately his team lost the game by 4-3 on penalty shoot-out. Overall, he played three games in the Club World Cup and scored in two games.

As of match played on 11 March 2020[45][46][47][48]

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