Tiemoue Bakayoko in action for AS Monaco (Getty Images)
According to ESPN, PSG have entered into talks with Chelsea over the transfer of Tiemoue Bakayoko. The midfielder, who earns £110,000 per week at Stamford Bridge, has struggled at Stamford Bridge and his future is up in the air.
PSG were looking at Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Ismael Bennacer and Eduardo Camavinga. But with a deal for any of them looking unlikely, they have fallen back on Bakayoko as an alternative.
Tiemoue Bakayoko is a 26-year-old French midfielder who plays for Chelsea. He started his youth career at Olympique de Paris in 2000 and moved to CA Paris four years later. After two years, he went to Montrouge FC before settling at Rennes’ youth side in 2008.
He spent the next few years in the youth teams before moving to the Rennes B team and then Stade Rennais. In the one season he played for the first-team, he appeared in 28 games.
AS Monaco came calling in 2014 and that is where he made a name for himself. He was slowly integrated into the team with sporadic appearances in the first two seasons. In 2016-17, the year Monaco won the Ligue 1, Bakayoko was a central part of it.
His exploits did not go unnoticed as Chelsea signed him in 2017. However, things didn’t work out the way it was supposed to. He was shipped on loan to AC Milan the following season after some error-strewn performances.
On his return, he was loaned to Monaco last season. He has made a total of 115 appearances for Monaco in the two stints he’s had for them, scoring 6 goals and assisting 3 (source – Transfermarkt). The big Frenchman is back at Chelsea for the time being.
Bakayoko has been a regular of the France youth sides but has made just one appearance for the senior side.
Bakayoko was heavily under the scanner during his time at Chelsea, especially after his spectacular season at Monaco. He never looked settled at Chelsea and in the two loan spells, he has looked close to being back to his best.
With so many players coming in for Chelsea on top of the existing players at the club, it is highly unlikely that Frank Lampard would include Bakayoko in his plans.
Bakayoko has been nothing but a flop at Stamford Bridge and it’s high time Lampard gets rid of the Frenchman, who is surplus to requirements at Chelsea.
In short, Bakayoko’s Chelsea career is all but over. He had been given freedom in his last two seasons, where he performed much better than how he did at Chelsea. With the Chelsea midfield looking settled without Bakayoko, it’s better they offload him when the time is right.
