Vakoun Issouf Bayo

Vakoun Issouf Bayo (born 10 January 1997) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Italian Serie A club Udinese and the Ivory Coast national team. He is nicknamed The Crow.^[1]

Vakoun Issouf Bayo

Bayo with Toulouse in 2020
Personal information
Full name	Vakoun Issouf Bayo
Date of birth	(1997-01-10) 10 January 1997 (age 28)
Place of birth	Daloa, Ivory Coast
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Udinese
Youth career
	Stade d'Abidjan
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2017	Étoile du Sahel	11	(0)
2018–2019	Dunajská Streda	25	(14)
2019–2021	Celtic	9	(0)
2020–2021	→ Toulouse (loan)	31	(10)
2021–2022	Gent	3	(0)
2022	→ Charleroi (loan)	16	(11)
2022	Charleroi	0	(0)
2022–2024	Watford	63	(10)
2023	→ Charleroi (loan)	10	(3)
2024–	Udinese	0	(0)
2024–2025	→ Watford (loan)	41	(10)
International career‡
2015	Ivory Coast U23	4	(1)
2018–	Ivory Coast	4	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 3 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 19 November 2024

Club career

Dunajská Streda

Bayo joined Dunajská Streda in March 2018.^[2] He made his Slovak league debut against Slovan Bratislava on 18 March 2018.^[3]

Celtic

Bayo moved to Scottish Premiership club Celtic in January 2019.^[4] He was left out of the Celtic squad for the later stages of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, with the club only able to register three of their four January window signings.^[5] He made his debut for Celtic against Kilmarnock on 17 February 2019, coming on as a late substitute shortly before Scott Brown scored a late winner.^[6][7]

Toulouse (loan)

On 12 August 2020, Bayo signed for French club Toulouse, on a one-year loan, with an additional option to buy.^[8]

Gent

On 9 July 2021, Bayo signed for Belgian First Division A club Gent on a four-year deal.^[9]

Charleroi

On 22 December 2021, Bayo agreed to join Charleroi on loan until the end of the season, with an option to buy.^[10] On 16 May 2022, Charleroi confirmed that they had exercised the option to purchase and had signed Bayo on a contract until 2026 after a successful loan spell that saw him score eleven goals in sixteen matches.^[11]

Watford

On 2 July 2022, Bayo joined EFL Championship club Watford on a five-year deal.^[12]

Charleroi (loan)

On 30 January 2023, Bayo rejoined Charleroi on loan until the end of the season.^[13]

Udinese

On 29 August 2024, Bayo signed a four-season contract with Udinese in Italy, and was loaned back to Watford for the rest of the 2024–25 season.^[14]

Career statistics

As of match played 3 May 2025^[15][16]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Étoile du Sahel	2015-16	CLP-1	2	0	0	0	–		4[c]	0	6	0
	2016–17	CLP-1	9	0	0	0	–		–		9	0
	Total		11	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	15	0
Dunajská Streda	2017–18	Slovak Super Liga	9	4	0	0	–		–		9	4
	2018–19	Slovak Super Liga	16	10	3	5	–		4[d]	3	23	18
	Total		25	14	3	5	0	0	4	3	32	22
Celtic	2018–19	Scottish Premiership	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2019–20		8	0	2	1	1	1	5[e]	0	16	2
	Total		9	0	2	1	1	1	5	0	17	2
Toulouse (loan)	2020–21	Ligue 2	31	10	3	2	0	0	2[f]	1	36	13
Gent	2021–22	Belgian First Division A	3	0	1	0	—		3[g]	0	7	0
Charleroi (loan)	2021–22	Belgian First Division A	16	11	0	0	—		—		16	11
Watford	2022–23	Championship	24	4	0	0	1	0	—		25	4
	2023–24	Championship	39	6	2	0	1	1	—		42	7
	Total		63	10	2	0	2	1	—		67	11
Charleroi (loan)	2022–23	Belgian First Division A	10	3	0	0	—		—		10	3
Udinese	2024–25	Serie A	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
Watford (loan)	2024–25	Championship	41	10	0	0	1	0	—		42	10
Career total			209	60	11	8	4	2	18	4	242	74

1. Includes appearances in Slovak Cup, Scottish Cup, Coupe de France, Belgian Cup, FA Cup
2. Includes Scottish League Cup, EFL Cup
3. Appearance(s) in CAF Confederation Cup
4. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
5. One appearance in UEFA Champions League and four appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearance(s) in Ligue 1 relegation/promotion play-offs
7. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

Celtic

• Scottish Premiership: 2018–19, 2019–20^[17]