BOTD: BERTRAND TRAORE

On this day in 1995, Bertrand Traore was born in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso. His one and only season as a Mackem was spoiled by injuries but he still played his part in securing Europa League football on Wearside.

Having started out in the academy of French club Auxerre in 2009 before moving to Chelsea in 2013, Traore would actually make his international debut before his senior club debut. He was just 15 when he earned his first cap for Burkina Faso. He would do the usual route for a Chelsea youngster and spend a season out on loan at Vitesse during the 2014/15 season before remaining at Stamford Bridge for the 2015/16 season.

He 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.

For the 2016/17 season he moved to Ajax where he 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.

He would move on from Chelsea in 2017, signing for French side Lyon for £8.8 million. His first season went brilliantly, scoring 18 in 43 across all competitions. His second and third season would see a combined 15 goals in 82 games across all competitions, failing to beat the success of his first campaign.

It did not put off Aston Villa who joined in September 2020, paying £17 million for the winger. 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.

He had a brief loan spell at Istanbul Basaksehir in 2022 before returning to see out the 22/23 season at Villa Park.

He would then have a short spell in Spain with Villareal before returning to Ajax on a two-year contract in 2024. He would score 10 in 50 games, scoring and assisting in the same game against a number of opponents, including Vojvodina and Galatasaray in European competitions.

He would then make another return to the Premier League for the 2025/26 season, joining Brian Brobbey on Wearside on Deadline Day. Although he was never really a superstar in Red and White, he had a run in the side where he made an impact, scoring in the comeback victory against Bournemouth as well as puttiung in a solid display in the 1-0 win against Newcastle at the SoL. Injuries massively hampered his time on Wearside and had it not been for those I would have expected he would still be here this season.