BERTRAND TRAORE: WHO ARE YOU?

Sunderland concluded their incoming business of the 2025 summer transfer window with the signing of Bertrand Traore. The 29-year-old Burkina Faso international right winger signs on a one-year deal, with a club option of a further year, for a fee of £2.5 million from Ajax. Here’s his career recap:

Born in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, in 1995, he started out in the academy of French club Auxerre in 2009 before moving to Chelsea in 2013. He featured at the U17 World Cup in 2009 aged just 14 and earned his first senior cap for Burkina Faso aged just 15. In 2011, he was part of the squad that won the U17 Africa Cup of Nations. His first appearance at a major international tournament came in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Traore’s first goal for Burkina Faso occurred in the summer of 2013, with the attacker netting the opener in a 2-1 friendly win over Morocco.

His debut in senior men’s club football was in January 2014 via a loan spell with Vitesse, playing just over 20 minutes in a 1-1 draw with NEC Nijmegen in the Eredivisie. He bagged his first goal two months later, scoring to ensure his team picked up a point against Heerenveen, then he followed this up with two goals in the next two games. One of these was in a draw at home to Ajax. After this half-season loan spell with Vitesse, he was loaned back to them for all of the following campaign. In 36 appearances in this full season, he secured 17 goals and seven assists, with this including braces against Heracles Almelo, Excelsior, FC Utrecht and Ajax. He was particularly important in the Eredivisie’s European play-offs. During these, he scored once and assisted twice in four matches to help his team into next season’s Europa League qualification rounds.

In the 2015/16 season, he remained at parent club Chelsea and made a total of 16 appearances, with four goals and one assist along the way. The winger’s debut for Chelsea came in the Champions League from the substitute’s bench in a win versus Maccabi Tel Aviv. His goals came against Newcastle United and Stoke City in the Premier League and versus MK Dons and Manchester City in the FA Cup.

Bertrand went back to the Eredivisie the next year, this time with Ajax, and played a key role as they made it to the final of the Europa League, which they lost to Manchester United. He scored twice and assisted one in the first leg of the semi final against Olympique Lyon. Unfortunately, Ajax missed out on the Dutch title by a single point. During this season, he was a key member of the Burkina Faso team that finished third at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Lyon bought him for an initial fee of £8.8 million in June 2017. His debut campaign was very successful on his part, particularly from February onwards. He scored 18 and assisted seven in 43. There were six goals and an assist from him in five matches between April and May. He hit double figures for goals again in his second season, this time getting 11 goals and chipping in with four assists. He scored and assisted in the same Champions League game against TSG Hoffenheim, did the same versus Amiens SC in the Coupe de la Ligue and secured a brace against Marseille in Ligue 1. Ironically, in his least prolific campaign with Lyon (his third and final season, four goals, five assists) he actually came the closest to getting his hands on silverware. His club made it to the final of the Coupe de la Ligue, with Traore earlier scoring twice in the round of 16, and they took PSG to penalties. Alas, our new man was the only player to be unsuccessful in the shootout and they subsequently missed out on the trophy.

September 2020 brought a return to the Premier League, with Aston Villa paying £17 million for his services. There were 15 goal contributions in his first season in the Second City, he scored in two separate games against Man United and in wins over the likes of West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace and Newcastle and, on the final day of the PL, scored and assisted at home to Chelsea. A mixture of injuries, AFCON and COVID-19 meant he was limited to just 10 games in 21/22 but he did captain his country during AFCON at least.

The first half of 2022/23 was spent out on loan with Istanbul Basaksehir, he played 18, scored three and assisted once. Highlights included, finding the back of the net against Fiorentina in the Conference League and scoring the only goal of the game against Besiktas in the Super Lig. At the end of January, he was recalled and went on to make 8 league appearances for Villa in the rest of the season. His two goals back in claret and blue occurred in back to back wins against Leicester City and Nottingham Forest, the first of these being the deciding goal of the game.

There were another six games for Villa before he left for Villarreal in February 2024 on a free transfer and he made 11 appearances, finding the net once, in his only period in Spain. That sole goal was a winner against Girona though.

Ajax brought him back in the summer of 2024 and he had a much more positive time, scoring 10 and assisting eight in 50 matches. He scored and assisted in the same game against a number of opponents, including Vojvodina and Galatasaray in European competitions.

He’s a prominent figure for his country on the international stage, he captains the Peregrine Falcons, has 84 caps and has scored 22 goals, playing for them at multiple tournament finals.

With Patrick Roberts off to Birmingham City on loan, we needed more depth on the wings. He’s able to play both sides (as well as upfront) so he certainly meets that criteria. We’ve bought him on the cheap and on only a one-year contract so if he’s not great we won’t have to worry about paying his wages in the long term. Even if he only scores a few goals and/or assists a few I think this signing will be worth it. He’s very much a low risk addition. Last season, he seemed closer to his best however, so there might not be anything to worry about.