Vakoun Issouf Bayo, an Ivory Coast footballer who primarily plays as a forward, was born on the 10th of January 1997. He stands tall at 6 feet (1.84m) and weighs 12 stone 12 pounds (82kg). At Watford, he dons the number 19 jersey. Apart from his club level action, Bayo has represented the U23 Ivory Coast national team.
The Ivory Coast international began his professional football journey in July 2014 with Ligue 1 outfit, Stade d'Abidjan. A year later, in September 2015, he transferred to Étoile du Sahel in Tunisia's Ligue Professionnelle 1 for a fee of around £180,000. During his stint at Étoile du Sahel, Bayo made a humble nine appearances in his debut season.
After the moderate start in Tunisia, in March 2018, Bayo moved to DAC Dunajská Streda in the First Football League in Slovakia. Here, he started to make his mark, netting four goals in nine appearances in the 2017-18 season and doubling that with ten goals in 16 appearances the next season.
Bayo's promising performance in Slovakia earned him a move to Celtic in the Scottish Premiership in January 2019 for a sum close to £2m. At Celtic, in the 2018-19 season, he made just the single appearance. However, in the following 2019-2020 season, Bayo got a bit more game time, making eight appearances and scoring two goals.
In August 2020, Bayo was loaned out to Toulouse in France's Ligue 1 where his goal-scoring exploits returned, finding the net ten times in 30 appearances. After his successful stint in France, Bayo's next move was to Belgium. In July 2021, he transferred from Celtic to Gent in the Pro League for around £1.4 million, making three appearances in the 2021-2022 season.
Undeterred by the limited opportunities at Gent, in January 2022, he moved to Charleroi, another Club in the Pro League, on loan. For Charleroi, he, again, displayed his goal-scoring ability netting seven goals in 12 appearances. Following his fruitful loan spell, Charleroi acquired his services for £1.4 million in July 2022.
After another successful season at Charleroi, the forward made a substantial £5 million move to English Championship side Watford in July 2022. Bayo spent two prolific seasons at Watford, making a total of 63 appearances and scoring ten goals.
Despite his achievements at Watford, Bayo was loaned out to Charleroi in January 2023, where he scored three goals in ten appearances. He returned to Watford in June 2023 and continued his previous form. As of now, in the current 2024-25 season at Watford, the forward has made nine appearances and scored one goal.
After an undisclosed fee transaction, Bayo transferred from Watford to Serie A Italian giants, Udinese, in August 2024. He didn't stay long in Italy though - immediately loaned back to Watford where he currently continues to play.
Off the league pitch, Bayo displayed his talent in the 2023-2024 FA Cup and the 2024-2025 League Cup competitions for Watford, making noteworthy contributions in both events.
