Yannick Bolasie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 08/2016
Personal information
Full name
Yannick Bolasie
Date of birth
24 May 1989
Place of birth
Lyon, France
Height
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position
Winger
Club information
Current team
Crystal Palace
Number
10
Youth career
Rushden & Diamonds
2005-2006
Senior career*
Hillingdon Borough
2006-2007
5x apps / 0x goal
Floriana
2007-2008
24x apps / 4x goals
Plymouth Argyle
2008-2011
51x apps / 8x goals
→ Rushden & Diamonds (loan)
2008-2009
7x apps / 0x goal
→ Barnet (loan)
2009
20x apps / 3x goals
→ Barnet (loan)
2009–2010
22x apps / 2x goals
Bristol City
2011-2012
23x apps / 1x goal
Crystal Palace
2012-2016
122x apps / 11x goals
Everton F.C.
2016-
1x apps / 0x goals
National team
DR Congo
2013-
24x apps / 6x goals
(* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:58, 19 December 2015 (UTC). - ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:43, 27 November 2015 (UTC)
Yannick "Yala" Bolasie (born 24 May 1989) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Crystal Palace as a winger.
Born in Lyon, he has played in the Football League for Plymouth Argyle, Barnet, Bristol City and his current club.
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.
He returned to England in 2008 after being offered a trial with Plymouth Argyle, and impressed enough to be offered a two-year contract.
He joined Dagenham & Redbridge on trial, with a view to a loan move, before returning to Rushden & Diamonds on loan near the end of the year.
He made his debut against Eastbourne Borough on 29 November, and made seven appearances in the Conference before returning to Argyle in January 2009. Bolasie then joined Barnet on loan, making his Football League debut against Accrington Stanley on 24 January 2009.
He scored his first goal two weeks later, opening the scoring in a 3:3 draw against Grimsby Town.
He returned to Argyle at the end of the 2008-09 season having made 20 league appearances for Barnet, scoring three goals.
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.
He rejoined the Barnet squad in July 2009 ahead of the new season on a six-month loan, and hoped it would act as a springboard to winning a place in the Argyle first team.
He scored against Grimsby again in October 2009, capping a fine display with a fierce shot from 30 yards Bolasie scored his second goal of the season three weeks later against Darlington, as Hendon's side maintained a place in the top half of the League Two table.
Plymouth Argyle
Bolasie returned to Plymouth Argyle in January 2010, having made a further 22 league appearances for Barnet, scoring twice.
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.
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.
He scored his first goal for the club two weeks later at Sheffield United.
The pacy winger, ended the season with 16 Championship appearances to his name, but could not prevent the club from being relegated to League One.
Bolasie was offered a new contract by the club in April 2010, and Bolasie signed it in July after the arrival of Peter Reid as the club's new manager.
Bristol City
Bolasie was transferred to Bristol City on 6 June 2011 for an undisclosed fee and signed a two-year contract.
He scored his first goal for the club in a 3:1 win against Coventry City on 9 April 2012.
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.
He submitted a written transfer request in August 2012 because he wanted to move back to London.
Crystal Palace
In August 2012, Bolasie signed a three-year contract with Crystal Palace for an undisclosed fee.
He made his debut in a 2:1 defeat at Middlesbrough, and scored his first goal for Palace in a 5:0 home win against Ipswich Town.
On 27 May 2013, Bolasie 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.
Bolasie made his Premier League debut as a substitute against Liverpool at Anfield on 5 October 2013.
He was sent off in the 78th minute of a 1:0 win at Hull City on 23 November 2013.
On 21 September 2014, Bolasie scored his first Premier League goal in a 3:2 win over Everton at Goodison Park.
On 11 April 2015, Bolasie scored an 11-minute hat-trick against Sunderland in a 4:1 win at the Stadium of Light.
In doing so he became the first Crystal Palace player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League.
On 26 September 2015, Bolasie penned a new three and a half year deal for the club.
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.
In March 2013, Bolasie was again called up to the Democratic Republic of Congo squad, and made his international debut in a 2014 World Cup qualification 0:0 draw with Libya.
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.
The team finished in third place.