Assessing Vakoun Issouf Bayo
Ivorian international Vakoun Issouf Bayo became Celtic’s third attacking recruit of the January window. But this one’s a keeper. Not literally a goal tender. A four-year contract – he belongs to Celtic! How quaint.
It has been a rapid rise for the 21-year-old from Daloa (is that the Ivorian Alloa?). Two years (but less than 600 minutes) in the Tunisian top flight (and no goals) was followed by a free transfer to the Slovakian League and DAC Dunajska Streda. The club has an unbroken administrative history of 115 years but many name changes. Averaging around 4000 attendance per home game, Bayo leaves them 2nd in the Slovak league thanks to a highly productive goal return.
It is undoubtedly a unique path Bayo beats to Celtic.
Unlike fellow recent recruits Burke and Weah, Bayo is an out and out striker with minimal time spent in wide forward areas. The YouTube reels show a player happy flinging himself at headers. He will therefore provide much needed variation to the Hoops attack. He hasn’t taken any penalties yet as a professional, if you were wondering. And whisper it – no recorded injuries on Transfermarkt!
His 2 caps for Ivory Coast have both come in African Cup of Nations qualification. He has amassed 15 minutes in those ties.
In terms of what type of player he is, the Daily Record spoke to his manager to find out in quite an insightful article (I know, right!). It sounds like there will be rough edges to knock off and at 21 that is to be expected. He also mentions his disciplinary record. In just over 35 matches of football, he has accumulated 10 yellow cards and 1 red. That’s 0.31 cards per 90m, more than any other Celtic squad member. Just as well Scottish referees give Celtic players the benefit of the doubt. He also had a 1 match “Suspension through the sports court” but I cannot find details of what that entailed.
And what of the numbers? Well, like Burke and Weah, he has played less than a full season’s worth of matches in his career. 3192 minutes is the equivalent of 35.47 matches.
In that short career he has a mighty 22 goals and 9 assists.
He is scoring at the rate of 0.62 goals per 90m and assisting at 0.25 per 90m. Overall his Scoring Contribution of 0.87 per 90m would be slightly below Edouard (0.91) and Forrest (0.90).
His scoring rate for the Slovakian outfit of 1.09 Scoring Contribution per 90m is very similar to that of Alfredo Morelos for HJK Helsinki prior to his move to Scotland (1.11 per 90m). In the UEFA rankings used to determine allocations to European competitions Slovakia is ranked 32 and Finland 38.
The Bhoy Bayo comes European ready (I’m stretching this a bit) after 3 goals in 3 ½ Europa League ties. He already has a senior hattrick to his name in the Slovnaft (yes, really) Cup.
Amido Balde or Gary Hooper? Both cost similar amounts to Bayo and we don’t really know what we are going to get. With Weah a very mature 18-year-old also covering the centre, it looks as if Bayo will get time to settle in for the Summer campaign.
All the best to the Bhoy Bayo!