Bakary Sako

Bakary Sako (born 26 April 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder.

He has previously played for English League clubs Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and West Bromwich Albion.

Sako had been with Châteauroux since 2001, joining the club as an academy player.

He made his league debut on the final matchday of the 2005–06 Ligue 2 season coming on as a half-time substitute in a 4–1 victory over Bastia.

Following the season, he signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a three-year deal.

He was promoted to the senior squad and assigned the number 26 shirt.

During the next two seasons, Sako was limited to mostly substitute appearances.

Sako played for the Malian U17 team in one friendly match in 2005, while the team was preparing for the 2005 African Under-17 Championship.

He did score his first league goal, during the 2007–08 season, in a 1–2 defeat against Brest.

During the 2008–09 season Sako became an integral part of the team, helping the club narrowly avoid relegation on the final day.

On 9 July 2009, Sako departed Châteauroux for Ligue 1 club Saint-Étienne, where he signed a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

On 29 August 2012, Sako signed for Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee that was reported to be £2.2 million.

He scored on his Wolves debut in a League Cup tie against Northampton Town on 30 August 2012, and again on his league debut in the following match, a 3–1 defeat at Cardiff.

The winger adapted well to English football, scoring ten times in total and contributing eleven assists.

However, his season was halted early when he tore his hamstring in March 2013 in a match against Bristol City, which ruled him out for much of the season's final games, during which the team were relegated to League One.

Sako was the subject of transfer speculation during Summer 2013 with interest from Fulham in June 2013 but the London club did not meet a reported £4 million asking price.

Owing to his uncertain future, the player did not play in Wolves' final match of the transfer window as he "didn't feel he was in the right frame of mind".

Several reported bids from Nottingham Forest were rejected by the club.

In October 2013, Forest again attempted to set up a deal but Wolves pulled out of negotiations citing that "the terms surrounding the offer were unrealistic".

Despite the initial speculation surrounding his future and the breakdown of his proposed move to Forest, Sako went on to have a productive season for Wolves, finishing as joint top-scorer alongside the departed Leigh Griffiths as Wolves won the League One title with a record points haul for the third tier.

Sako was also named in the League One PFA Team of the Year for the 2013–14 season alongside four of his teammates.

From 2014 to 2017, he played for the Mali national team.

Back at Championship level, Sako continued to score regularly for Wolves and was named in the Championship PFA Team of the Year for the 2014–15 season.

He finished the season as the club's (joint) top goalscorer as the team missed out on the play-offs on goal difference.

Out of contract with the club, he voiced his desire to play in the Premier League, while head coach Kenny Jackett stated that he expected Sako to depart.

On 5 August 2015, Sako joined Premier League side Crystal Palace on a three-year contract following his release from Wolves.

He scored his first goal for the club on his full debut against Aston Villa on 22 August 2015.

Sako then scored again the following week away to Chelsea, in a 2–1 win, which was José Mourinho's second ever loss at Stamford Bridge.

Sako also assisted the second goal scored by Joel Ward.

In the 2017–18 season, Sako's form started to pick up under the management of Roy Hodgson scoring his first goal of the season against Huddersfield in the EFL Cup.

He later scored against Bristol City in the same competition.

Sako was also back scoring in the league as well, netting against Watford, Burnley and Leicester.

He also added a goal in the FA Cup in an away loss to Brighton & Hove Albion.

On 2 October 2018, West Bromwich Albion signed free agent Sako until the end of the season.

On 27 January 2019, Sako rejoined Crystal Palace on a short-term contract until the end of the 2018–19 season.

He was released on expiry of his contract at the end of June.

On 28 July 2019, Denizlispor announced the signing of free agent Sako via Twitter.

But later, the club gave up the transfer due to his ankle injury history.

On 6 September 2019, Pafos announced the signing of Sako via Facebook.

On 30 December 2021, Sako returned to his former club Saint-Étienne on a contract until the end of the 2021–22 season.