Sol Bamba

Souleymane Bamba (born 13 January 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

He was most recently the first team coach/assistant manager at Cardiff City.

Bamba started his career in his native France with Paris Saint-Germain, but failed to establish himself in their first team.

He moved to Scotland to join Dunfermline Athletic in 2006, helping the club reach the final of the Scottish Cup in his first season.

After an initial trial period, Bamba signed for Scottish Premier League side Dunfermline Athletic in July 2006 on a two-year contract.

Jim Leishman later revealed that he had been intending to bring over another player from France on trial, but this deal fell through and Bamba's agent sent him instead.

Leishman was immediately impressed by Bamba's physique and his performance as a trialist during a preseason friendly against West Bromwich Albion striker John Hartson.

He made his competitive debut for the club in Dunfermline's opening league match of the season, a 2–1 defeat to Hearts.

On 2 December 2006, Bamba was sent off for the first time in his professional career after pushing Steven Naismith in the chest during a 5–1 defeat to Kilmarnock.

In his first season at the club, Bamba was part of the squad that reached the 2007 Scottish Cup Final and played in a 1–0 defeat to Celtic in the final.

However, the club also suffered relegation from the Scottish Premier League after a seven-year spell in the division.

Bamba signed a two-year contract extension at the start of the 2007–08 season.

The extension brought an end to rumours of his desire to leave the club in order to play at a higher level and further his chances of breaking into the Ivory Coast national side, having not played in any of Dunfermline's preseason matches.

Born in France to Ivorian parents, Bamba represented Ivory Coast in the 2008 Olympic Games and became a regular for the senior national side until his most recent cap in 2014.

Bamba was allowed to go on trial with Championship side Watford in July 2008, appearing in a friendly for them against Boreham Wood.

Soon afterwards, manager Jim McIntyre said he expected a fee to be agreed between Dunfermline and Watford, which would allow Bamba to move to the Championship side.

The deal was thought to be almost complete, with Watford sending a doctor to China, where Bamba had travelled with the Ivory Coast Olympic squad, to conduct his medical.

However, Watford later pulled out for unknown reasons.

A few weeks later, Dunfermline accepted offers of £50,000 for Bamba to move to either Hibernian and Motherwell, keeping him in the Scottish Premier League.

Bamba chose to move to Hibernian, signing a three-year contract with the club.

As part of the transfer deal, Dunfermline were due 10% of any future transfer fee.

He was sent off on his debut for a second bookable offence against Dundee United, but Bamba subsequently established himself in the Hibs first team.

Despite being a natural centre back, manager Mixu Paatelainen praised Bamba's performance as a defensive midfielder during a 2–0 win over Celtic in December 2008.

Paatelainen commented further that he believed Bamba had improved as a player since his spell at Dunfermline, with him no longer going to ground when making a challenge, and described him as possessing "tremendous pace and physical presence."

Bamba quickly became a popular player with the Hibs support due to his tough and committed tackling in this new role.

Following Paatelainen's departure, new manager John Hughes moved Bamba back to a central defensive role after the departure of Rob Jones in the 2009 season.

Two years later, he was transferred to Hibernian, before joining English side Leicester City in January 2011.

He was sold to Turkish club Trabzonspor in 2012 for £750,000 before joining Palermo.

However, he was loaned to Leeds United after making only one appearance in six months.

He eventually joined Leeds on a permanent deal and was appointed club captain, spending a further year with the club before being released and subsequently joining Cardiff City.

In his first full season with Cardiff, he helped the side win promotion to the Premier League.

In 2012, he was part of the side that reached the final of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Bamba began his career with Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at the age of 11.

He had been spotted by club scouts playing street football in Paris but had initially turned the club down as his mother hoped for him to become a doctor.

He lived with his parents Sehrata and Bakary Bamba in Ivry-sur-Seine, a suburb in central Paris.

Since his family could not afford the travel to the club's training facilities outside the city, he moved away from his family home to instead live at the club's academy.

Originally playing as a defensive midfielder, he converted to playing as a central defender at the age of 15 after impressing there as cover for a teammate who had missed a match due to being stuck in traffic.

Despite impressing for PSG's youth and B teams, he only appeared in two first team games, in his final year at the club at the age of 21.

Dissatisfied with his lack of appearances, Bamba asked to be sent out on loan to gain experience but was denied by manager, Vahid Halilhodžić, causing Bamba to reject PSG's offer of a new contract and subsequently leave the club.

He later claimed that PSG had damaged potential transfers to other French sides after he left the club, stating "I was disappointed because my club said, 'He's a good player but he's a tough guy – he doesn't listen and he can get the team into trouble."