14.  TIEMOUE BAKAYOKO

Bakayoko made his debut for the Ligue 1 side on 24 August 2013 in a Ligue 1 match against Évian TG, playing the whole match in a 2-1 away win.

Bakayoko made his Monaco debut on 10 August 2014 in a Ligue 1 match against Lorient. He was replaced by Valère Germain after 32 minutes in a 2-1 home loss. His early substitution by Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim created a strained relationship between the two, with Bakayoko saying: "From then on, something was a little broken between him and me"

Following his first two seasons at Monaco, in which he made 31 Ligue 1 performances, Bakayoko decided to change his behaviour to fulfil his potential, which included moving from a luxury villa to an apartment and changing the colour of his car from pink to black.[6][3] He was helped by former France international Claude Makélélé, who had been appointed director of football at Monaco in 2016, on how to improve his football and take care of himself off the pitch. As a result, and with Jérémy Toulalan and Mario Pašalić having both left the club in 2016, Bakayoko became a regular starter for Monaco, helping the club to the Ligue 1 title in the 2016-17 season and named in the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League squad of the season.

In the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match at the Stade Louis II on 15 March 2017, Bakayoko scored the final goal (it was his first ever UEFA Europa League or UEFA Champions League goal) with a header from a Thomas Lemar free-kick to help Monaco secure a vital goal against Manchester City. Monaco won 3–1 and won the tie on the away goals rule (aggregate score 6–6)

Bakayoko was called up to the senior France squad for the first time to face Luxembourg and Spain in March 2017 after Paul Pogba withdrew through injury. He made his debut on 28 March 2017 against the latter, replacing Adrien Rabiot at halftime of a 2–0 friendly home loss.

Bakayoko has been compared to Yaya Touré due to his strong all-round qualities of pace, intelligent reading of the game, ability to intercept passes and accomplished tackling, passing and dribbling, as well as being physically powerful and atheltic. He plays as a defensive midfielder, breaking up attacks and making driving forward runs, with only Gabi and Danny Drinkwater breaking up more attacks during the 2016-17 Champions League. Bakayoko's mananger at Monaco, Leonardo Jardim, said: "He wins a lot of balls, brings balance to the team. He passes the ball well and wins his duels. That is Bakayoko's role."