Biographie
Bafétimbi Gomis is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Turkish club Galatasaray.
Gomis played youth football with Saint-Étienne before making his professional debut for the club in 2004, also spending time on loan at Troyes in Ligue 2. In 2009, he joined Saint-Étienne's Derby du Rhone rivals Lyon for a fee of EUR13 million. Over five seasons at the Stade Gerland, he played 239 official matches and scored 91 goals, winning the Coupe de France and the Trophée des Champions in 2012. In 2014, he moved to Premier League club Swansea City on a free transfer. After a loan back in France at Marseille, he signed for Galatasaray.
Gomis made 12 appearances for the French national team from 2008 to 2013, scoring three goals. He was a member of the squad for UEFA Euro 2008.
The 2006-07 season was when Gomis established himself with Saint-Étienne, scoring 10 goals in 30 appearances. Gomis continued this form into the 2007-08 season where he scored an impressive 16 goals in 34 appearances. Gomis' form in the 2008-09 season was scrutinized more heavily than it was in the previous season. Despite this, Gomis successfully netted five times in 17 league appearances, and excelled with his performances in the UEFA Cup, scoring three times in four matches.
On 29 July 2009, Olympique Lyonnais announced that they had signed the striker for EUR13 million and the player had agreed to a five-year contract. With the move, Gomis became just the sixth player in French football history to transfer directly from Saint-Étienne to Derby du Rhône arch-rivals Lyon. On the first day of the 2011-12 Ligue 1 campaign, Gomis scored the winning goal in a 3-1 victory over Nice on 6 August 2011. On 24 September, he scored a first-half brace against Girondins de Bordeaux firing his side to a 3-1 away victory. Gomis bagged four goals in the last round of the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League group stage, helping Lyon to a 7-1 victory over GNK Dinamo Zagreb and progression to the Round of 16 on goal difference. He also created a new record for the fastest Champions League hat-trick ever scored, beating the record owned by Mike Newell.
On 27 June 2014, Gomis signed a four-year contract at Swansea City after leaving Lyon at the end of the 2013-14 Ligue 1 season on a free transfer. He made his competitive debut in the opening match of the season on 16 August, replacing Wilfried Bony for the last 13 minutes of an eventual 2-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. On 26 August he scored his first competitive goal for the club in a 1-0 victory over Rotherham United in the Second Round of the League Cup. Gomis scored his first Premier League goal on 9 November 2014 scoring the winner barely a minute after entering the field, as his side came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1.
On 28 June 2017, Gomis joined the Turkish club Galatasaray for an undisclosed fee. He was convinced to join by their former players and his friends, Didier Drogba and Aurelien Chedjou. He made his debut for the Istanbul-based club on 13 July in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the Europa League away to Östersunds FK, a 2-0 loss. On 14 August, he made his Süper Lig debut as his team opened the season with a 4-1 win over Kayserispor. Gomis scored twice and assisted Younès Belhanda. In a game against Akhisarspor on 9 December, Gomis equalised in a 4-2 comeback win at the Türk Telekom Stadium but was later given a red card.
On 23 February 2018, Gomis scored his first hat-trick in Turkey, in a 5-0 home win over Bursaspor. He added four more goals on 3 March in a 7-0 victory at Kardemir Karabükspor, between the 17th and 33rd minutes.
On 18 May 2008, Gomis was called up for the provisional French UEFA Euro 2008 squad, ahead of experienced striker David Trézéguet, due to his particularly good form towards the end of Saint-Étienne's season. Gomis scored two goals in 26 minutes in a warm-up match against Ecuador on 27 May. He was the first player to score twice on his debut for the national team since Zinédine Zidane. On 28 May, he was selected in the French squad ahead of Olympique de Marseille striker Djibril Cissé. On 9 June, Gomis won his third cap by coming on as a substitute for Nicolas Anelka in the scoreless draw against Romania. On 7 October 2009, he collapsed in the training for the match against the Faroe Islands.
