Yannick Bolasie

Yannick Bolasie

Bolasie playing for Crystal Palace in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Yannick Bolasie[1]
Date of birth	24 May 1989[1]
Place of birth	Lyon, France
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current team	Everton
Number	14
Youth career
2005–2010	Rushden & Diamonds
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2007	Hillingdon Borough	5	(0)
2007–2008	Floriana	24	(4)
2008–2011	Plymouth Argyle	51	(8)
2008–2009	→ Rushden & Diamonds (loan)[3]	7	(0)
2009	→ Barnet (loan)	20	(3)
2009–2010	→ Barnet (loan)	22	(2)
2011–2012	Bristol City	23	(1)
2012–2016	Crystal Palace	133	(12)
2016–	Everton	13	(1)
National team^‡
2013–	DR Congo	31	(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 November 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 November 2016

Yannick Bolasie (born 24 May 1989) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Everton. Born in Lyon, he has played in the Football League for Plymouth Argyle, Barnet, Bristol City and Crystal Palace. Bolasie has been capped at international level by the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Club career

Early career

Bolasie began his career with Rushden & Diamonds at the age of 16. He spent four months as a member of their youth team and then had a spell with Hillingdon Borough in the Southern Football League, before moving across Europe to play for Floriana in the Maltese Premier League.^[4][5] He returned to England in 2008 after being offered a trial with Plymouth Argyle, and impressed enough to be offered a two-year contract.^[6] He joined Dagenham & Redbridge on trial, with a view to a loan move,^[7] before returning to Rushden & Diamonds on loan near the end of the year.^[8] He made his debut against Eastbourne Borough on 29 November,^[9] and made seven appearances in the Conference before returning to Argyle in January 2009. Bolasie then joined Barnet on loan,^[10] making his Football League debut against Accrington Stanley on 24 January 2009.^[11] He scored his first goal two weeks later, opening the scoring in a 3–3 draw against Grimsby Town.^[12]

He returned to Argyle at the end of the 2008–09 season having made 20 league appearances for Barnet, scoring three goals.^[13] The club's manager, Ian Hendon, was keen to bring Bolasie back, but dismissed the chances of signing him permanently. "Yannick is still under contract at Plymouth, so it is likely that he will return there at the end of the season," he said.^[14] He rejoined the Barnet squad in July 2009 ahead of the new season on a six-month loan,^[15] and hoped it would act as a springboard to winning a place in the Argyle first team.^[16] He scored against Grimsby again in October 2009, capping a fine display with a fierce shot from 30 yards^[17] Bolasie scored his second goal of the season three weeks later against Darlington,^[18] as Hendon's side maintained a place in the top half of the League Two table.^[19]

Plymouth Argyle

Bolasie training with Plymouth Argyle in 2010

Bolasie returned to Plymouth Argyle in January 2010,^[20] having made a further 22 league appearances for Barnet, scoring twice.^[21] He was given a chance to impress by Paul Mariner, who had succeeded Sturrock a month earlier, and included him in the squad to take on Barnsley on 13 February 2010.^[22] He made his debut for the club in that game, coming off the substitute bench to provide the momentum to turn a one nil deficit into a 3–1 win for the visitors.^[23] He scored his first goal for the club two weeks later at Sheffield United.^[24] The pacy winger,^[25] ended the season with 16 Championship appearances to his name,^[26] but could not prevent the club from being relegated to League One. Bolasie was offered a new contract by the club in April 2010,^[27] and Bolasie signed it in July after the arrival of Peter Reid as the club's new manager.^[28]

Bristol City

Bolasie was transferred to Bristol City on 6 June 2011 for an undisclosed fee and signed a two-year contract.^[29][30] He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win against Coventry City on 9 April 2012.^[31] Prior to the match against Barnsley later that month, Bolasie was named Young Player of the Year by the Supporters Club and Trust after a fans vote.^[32] He submitted a written transfer request in August 2012 because he wanted to move back to London.^[33][34]

Crystal Palace

In August 2012, Bolasie signed a three-year contract with Crystal Palace for an undisclosed fee.^[35][36][37] He made his debut in a 2–1 defeat at Middlesbrough,^[38] and scored his first goal for Palace in a 5–0 home win against Ipswich Town. He was an unused substitute for Palace in the 2013 Football League Championship play-off Final as the Eagles beat Watford 1–0 to gain promotion to the Premier League for the 2013–14 season.^[39]

Bolasie made his Premier League debut as a substitute against Liverpool at Anfield on 5 October 2013.^[40] He was sent off in the 78th minute of a 1–0 win at Hull City on 23 November 2013,^[41] and scored his first Premier League goal in a 3–2 win over Everton at Goodison Park on 21 September 2014,.^[42] On 11 April 2015, Bolasie scored an 11-minute hat-trick against Sunderland in a 4–1 win at the Stadium of Light, becoming the first Crystal Palace player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League.^[43][44] He signed a new three and a half year deal for Crystal Palace early in the 2015-16 season.^[45]

Everton

On 15 August 2016, Bolasie joined Everton for a reported fee of £25 million.^[46][47] He made his debut as a substitute in a 2–1 win away against West Bromwich Albion five days later,^[48] and three days after that made his first start for Everton, in a 4–0 EFL Cup win at home to Yeovil.^[49]

International career

Bolasie was eligible to represent France, England and DR Congo internationally through birth, upbringing and heritage respectively. In January 2013 while playing in the Championship for Crystal Palace, Bolasie rejected the chance to represent the DR Congo in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations claiming that he did not want to disrupt making progress in his club career.^[50] In March 2013, Bolasie was again called up to the Democratic Republic of Congo squad,^[51] and made his international debut^[52] in a 2014 World Cup qualification 0–0 draw with Libya.^[53]

Bolasie was selected in the Congolese squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea. He scored the equaliser in their first group game, a 1–1 draw against Zambia at the Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyín on 18 January.^[54] The team finished in third place.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played on 27 November 2016.

Club statistics

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Hillingdon Borough	2006–07	Southern Division 1 South & West	5	0	0	0	—		—		5	0
Floriana	2007–08	Maltese Premier League	24	4	0	0	—		—		24	4
Rushden & Diamonds (loan)	2008–09[55]	Conference Premier	7	0	0	0	—		3[lower-alpha 1]	0	10	0
Barnet (loan)	2008–09[56]	League Two	20	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	3
Plymouth Argyle	2009–10[57]	Championship	16	1	0	0	0	0	—		16	1
	2010–11[58]	League One	35	7	1	0	0	0	2[lower-alpha 2]	0	38	7
	Total		51	8	1	0	0	0	2	0	54	8
Barnet (loan)	2009–10[57]	League Two	22	2	3	0	1	0	2[lower-alpha 2]	0	28	2
Bristol City	2011–12[59]	Championship	23	1	1	0	0	0	—		24	1
	2012–13[60]	Championship	0	0	0	0	1	0	—		1	0
	Total		23	1	1	0	1	0	—		25	1
Crystal Palace	2012–13[60]	Championship	43	3	2	0	0	0	2[lower-alpha 3]	0	47	3
	2013–14[61]	Premier League	29	0	1	0	0	0	—		30	0
	2014–15[62]	Premier League	34	4	1	0	0	0	—		35	4
	2015–16[63]	Premier League	26	5	4	1	1	0	—		30	6
	2016–17[64]	Premier League	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	Total		133	12	8	1	1	0	2	0	144	13
Everton	2016–17[64]	Premier League	13	1	0	0	2	0	—		15	1
Totals			298	31	13	1	5	0	9	0	325	32

1. Appearances in the FA Trophy
2. Appearances in the Football League Trophy
3. Appearances in the Football League Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 13 November 2016.^[65]

International statistics

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
DR Congo	2013	3	0
	2014	6	2
	2015	15	3
	2016	7	2
Total		31	7

International goals

As of match played 13 November 2016. Democratic Republic of the Congo score is listed first, the score column indicates score after each Bolasie goal.

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	19 November 2014	Stade Tata Raphaël, Kinshasa, DR Congo	Sierra Leone	1–1	3–1	2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2				3–1
3	18 January 2015	Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyín, Ebebiyín, Equatorial Guinea	Zambia	1–1	1–1	2015 Africa Cup of Nations
4	12 November 2015	Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium, Bujumbura, Burundi	Burundi	1–0	3–2	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	15 November 2015	Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo	Burundi	2–1	3–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	5 June 2016	Rabemananjara Stadium, Mahajanga, Madagascar	Madagascar	3–0	6–1	2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
7	13 November 2016	Stade du 28 Septembre, Conakry, Guinea	Guinea	2–1	2–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Third Round

Personal life

His parents were born in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.^[66][50] Bolasie was born in the French city of Lyon,^[67][68][69] but moved to England when he was seven months old and grew up in the London borough of Brent.^[70][66] Lomana LuaLua, Kazenga LuaLua and Trésor Kandol are his cousins.^[71][72][70] His younger brother Ruddock Yala is a footballer, who played for Harrow Borough F.C., Grays Athletic F.C., Borehamwood F.C. and Maldon & Tiptree F.C..^[73]

Bolasie holds an active interest in grime music. In 2014 he clashed with fellow professional footballer Bradley Wright-Phillips for the long running grime DVD series Lord of the Mics.^[74][75]

References

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73. Callender Edwards, Tyrone (9 March 2009). "OTPN Interview | Ruddock Yala – Grays Athletic (Bolasie's youngest brother)". Off the Post News. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
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75. "Footballers to engage in epic rap battle in highly anticipated 'Lord of the Mics' DVD".

External links

• Yannick Bolasie career statistics at Soccerbase