Continuing our alphabetical world tour, next up is Burkina Faso. According to the Premier League website, just one Burkinabe has played in the Premier League, remember him?
First Player – Bertrand Traore (Chelsea; 2014-17)
One of the seemingly endless number of Chelsea prospects who ultimately became a revolving door of loan spells, Bertrand Traore joined Chelsea as a youth player in 2013, before officially joining as a senior player on January 1st 2014, aged 18.
A day later, he joined Vitesse Arnhem on loan, spending the second half of 2013/14 and then the entirety of 2014/15 in Holland. He was eventually granted a work permit allowing him to play for Chelsea ahead of the 2015/16 campaign, but featured sparingly in what was a troubled season for the Blues.
Traore was loaned out to Ajax before leaving permanently in 2017, joining Lyon. He is still just 24 years of age.
Records
- Most Appearances – Bertrand Traore (10)
- First appearance – Bertrand Traore (CHELSEA 0-1 Bournemouth, December 5th 2015)
- Most goals – Bertrand Traore (2)
- First goal – Bertrand Traore (CHELSEA 5-1 Newcastle, February 13th 2016)
Trivia
- Bertrand Traore has scored nine goals in 54 international appearances, putting him 10th in the Stallions’ all time goal scoring list at just 24 years of age.
- The last Premier League game to feature a Burkinabe was the final day of the 2015/16 season, when reigning Champions Chelsea held new champions Leicester City to a 1-1 draw. Traore started the game before being replaced by a young Tammy Abraham in the second half.
- Just two of Bertrand Traore’s Premier League appearances resulted in wins (4D, 4L).
