Cédric Bakambu

He made his debut in the Süper Lig twelve days later, replacing Ozan İpek in the 55th minute of a 2–1 win at Gençlerbirliği.

His first goals for the "Green Crocodiles" came on 19 October, in either half of a 2–2 draw against Eskişehirspor at the Bursa Atatürk Stadium, and six days later he scored a first professional hat-trick in a 5–0 win at Balıkesirspor.

He finished his only league season in Bursa with 13 goals in 27 games.

In the season's domestic cup, Bakambu was the top scorer with eight goals in 12 games as his team reached the final before a 3–2 home loss to Galatasaray.

This tally included trebles in a 5–0 win at Mersin İdmanyurdu on 27 January and a 3–0 victory over Fatih Karagümrük nine days later, both in the group stage.

He made his La Liga debut four days later, replacing Léo Baptistão in the 61st minute of a 1–1 draw at Real Betis in the first game of the season; on the 28th he came on for the same player and scored two goals in the closing minutes of the fixture against Espanyol at Estadio El Madrigal, to secure a 3–1 victory for the "Yellow Submarine".

Bakambu played his first game in European competition on 17 September, again as a substitute in a 2–1 loss at Rapid Wien in the group stage of the season's UEFA Europa League.

On 22 October, he scored his first goals in the tournament, a first-half double in a 4–0 home win over Dinamo Minsk; he added another two the following 10 March against Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of the last 16 (2–0 win, same aggregate).

In the quarter-finals, he scored twice in each leg of a 6–3 aggregate win over Sparta Prague.

He was one of four strikers named in the competition's Squad of the Season, and his 9 goals put him only one behind the top scorer, Athletic Bilbao's Aritz Aduriz.

A year and nine days later, as a 66th-minute replacement for King Osanga, he scored twice in a 3–2 extra-time home win over Evian in the third round of the Coupe de la Ligue.

Cédric Bakambu (born 11 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or a winger for La Liga club Real Betis and the DR Congo national team.

Bakambu made his professional debut for Sochaux in 2010, and played 107 official games for them over five seasons, scoring 21 goals.

He then moved to Bursaspor for €1.8 million, finishing as top scorer as his team came runners-up in the Turkish Cup, before signing for Villarreal a year later.

Born in France, Bakambu represented them internationally at youth level up to the under-20s, scoring eight goals in 38 games and winning the 2010 UEFA European Championship for the under-19s.

On 1 May 2010, Bakambu played in the 2010 Coupe Gambardella Final and scored a goal for his team at the Stade de France.

Sochaux, however, lost the match 4–3 on penalties.

He had previously scored a double in the team's 4–3 aggregate semi-final victory over Metz.

Bakambu made his professional debut on 7 August 2010 in Sochaux's opening match of the Ligue 1 season against Arles-Avignon, appearing as an 83rd-minute substitute for Modibo Maïga in a 2–1 win at the Stade Auguste Bonal.

On 17 September 2011, Bakambu scored his first professional goal, the first equaliser in a 2–2 draw at Lille OSC, eleven minutes after replacing Carlāo.

The following month, he signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with the club until June 2013.

Bakambu scored seven goals in 31 appearances over the 2013–14 Ligue 1 season, in which Sochaux were relegated; this included two on 21 December in a 2–1 home win over Rennes.

Across the campaign, he was placed on the right wing by manager Hervé Renard until he would become sufficiently mentally mature for a centre-forward role.

On 23 March, he was sent off for handball in a 2–1 loss at Saint-Étienne.

On 1 September 2014, Bakambu left France for the first time, moving on a four-year transfer to Turkey's Bursaspor for a fee of €1.8 million and an annual salary of €800,000.

In 2015, Bakambu made his senior debut for the DR Congo national team.

Born in Vitry-sur-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Bakambu began his career at local Ivry at the age of 10 before transferring to Sochaux four years later.

As Galatasaray won the double, Bursaspor faced them in the 2015 Turkish Super Cup on 8 August, with Bakambu playing the whole of the 1–0 loss.

On 19 August 2015, Spanish side Villarreal announced the signing of Bakambu on a five-year contract.

On 1 October 2017, Bakambu scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 home win over Eibar.

He then scored two goals in a 2–1 win at Girona and another in a 4–0 win over Las Palmas to be named La Liga Player of the Month, the first African to win the award.

In early January 2018, Villarreal manager Javier Calleja said that Bakambu was going through a transfer to Beijing Sinobo Guoan of the Chinese Super League.

On 17 January 2018, Bakambu rescinded his contract with Villarreal.

Two weeks later, however, Beijing Guoan still had not announced the signing of Bakambu who had already played and scored for the club.

It was reported that Beijing Guoan were trying to avoid paying a 100 percent tax placed on incoming transfers worth over 45 million yuan (US$7 million) by the Chinese Football Association.

The transfer went through in time for the start of the Chinese season with the full fees being paid.

On 28 February 2018, the final day of the Chinese transfer window, Bakambu's protracted transfer from Villarreal to Beijing Sinobo Guoan was finally confirmed with the club paid his €40million release clause, but Beijing did not announce the Congolese forward's signing amid confusion over whether they had to pay a 100 per cent levy on the transfer.

He scored his first goal in China in his second game, in a 2–1 win over Jiangsu Suning.

He won the Chinese FA Cup in his first season.

On 13 January 2022, Bakambu signed for French club Marseille on a contract until 30 June 2024.