Lacina Emeghara Traoré (born 20 May 1990) is an Ivorian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. He is nicknamed “The Big Tree”, due to his 1.98m frame, which puts him among the tallest professional footballers.

Club career

Early career

Growing up in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

, Ivory Coast, Traoré began his career with

Jean-Marc Guillou Jean-Marc Guillou (born 20 December 1945) is a French football coach and former player, who played at the 1978 World Cup. Club career Guillou was born in Bouaye, Loire-Atlantique. He played for Angers SCO, OGC Nice, Neuchâtel Xamax, FC Mulh ...

's football school

ASEC Mimosas ASEC Mimosas (short for Association Sportive des Employés de Commerce Mimosas; ) is an Ivorian professional football club based in Abidjan. The club is also known as ''ASEC Abidjan'', especially in international club competitions. Founded in 194 ...

, before joining

Stade d'Abidjan Stade d'Abidjan is an Ivorian football club based in Abidjan. History It was founded in 1936 as ASFI Abidjan after fusion with PIC and OC Abidjan and called U.S.F. Abidjan, before was renamed in Olympique Club Abidjan, since 1959 played as Stade ...

in 2006. He played in Abidjan until January 2008, when he joined the Romanian club

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

CFR Cluj

Traoré made his European debut with CFR, scoring a second goal in the first match of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League group stage, against

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. He then scored another goal in the 3–2 home loss against

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

.matches of Lacina Traoré on
Soccerway.com. Retrieved on 12 July 2012. The following season for Traoré continued smoothly for him at CFR Cluj, when he was constantly in the first squad as a full-time regular. He scored his first league goal of the season and set up

Cristian Bud Cristian Ionuț Bud (; born 26 June 1985) is a Romanian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker for CS Făurei. Career Early years In 2004, Bud began his career with his home ...

in a match against

Astra Ploiești Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian Association football, football Club (organization), club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ' ...

on 13 August 2010. Traoré received his first red card of his career after a brutal foul in the second half as CFR lost 3–0 against Sportul Studențesc on 20 August 2010. On 15 November 2010, he scored his first brace of his career in a 3–0 win over Gloria Bistrița. In the

2010–11 UEFA Champions League group stage The group stage of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League featured 32 teams: the 22 automatic qualifiers and the 10 winners of the play-off round (five through the Champions Path, five through the Non-Champions Path). The teams were drawn into eig ...

, Traoré scored one goal in the 2–1 win against

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and one goal in the 1–1 draw against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

(after hitting the post twice in Italy against the same team in the first match), both matches in the group phase and home.

Kuban Krasnodar

In February 2011, Traoré was transferred to Kuban Krasnodar in the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

for a reported fee of €6 million. In the opening game of the season on 13 March 2011, Traoré made his debut, coming on as a substitute, in a 2–0 loss against

Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (; ) is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the Russian Premier League. Founded in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003. It has remained there through the 2021–2 ...

. On 2 April 2011, Traoré scored his first league goal of the season, followed up by setting up a goal for

Vladislav Kulik Vladislav Mikhailovich Kulik (; born 27 February 1985) is a Russian former footballer who played as a central midfielder. Born and raised in Poltava, Ukraine, he decided to represent Russia on international level. Club career On 2 July 2019, h ...

in a 3–1 win over Spartak Moscow. After the match, Traoré says he dedicated his first goal to the club's supporters. Traoré then scored his first brace in Russian Football and set up a goal for

Gheorghe Bucur Gheorghe "Gigel" Bucur (born 8 April 1980) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a winger or a striker. Bucur has won the top league goalscorer award in the Romanian league twice, in the 2004–05 and in the 2008–09 ...

in a 3–2 win over

Amkar Perm FC Amkar Perm ( ) is a professional football club. Originally founded in 1994, it is based in the city of Perm. It was a participant in second-tier football from 1995 and in the Russian Premier League from 2004 to 2018, after which it was dissol ...

. By May, Traoré was voted player of the month by the club for his recent good performance. His further good performance earned him player of month in September and November. In his first season at Kuban Krasnodar, Traoré made thirty-nine appearances and scored eighteen times in all competitions. At the start of his football career in Russia, Traoré was compared to his compatriot striker

Seydou Doumbia Seydou Doumbia (; born 31 December 1987) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a forward. After beginning his career in the Ivory Coast and Japan, he arrived in Europe in 2008 to play for Swiss club Young Boys, where he wa ...

Anzhi Makhachkala

On 29 June 2012,

Anzhi Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala (, ), known simply as FC Anji, was a Russian professional football club based in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Founded in 1991, the club last competed in the third-tier Russian Football National League 2 ...

reported that they had signed Traoré for an undisclosed fee. Media reports estimated the transfer fee to be around €18 million. Upon joining the club, Traoré was given number 19 shirt and aimed to make the club very successful in the near future. Traoré scored his first goal for the club against former club Kuban Krasnodar on 22 July, scoring the winner for Anzhi in the 43rd minute. In Anzhi's first European campaign in nine years, the club played its first match in the qualification round against AZ and scored in a 1–0. He would then score another in the second leg and the club would eventually advanced to the Group Stage after a 5–0 win. He scored another goal, in Anzhi's 1–0 defeat of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on 8 November in a

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

group stage game. In his first season at Anzhi, Traoré would score seventeen goals in thirty-eight appearances in all competitions. Russian's newspaper

Sport Express ''Sport-Express'' () is a Russian daily sports newspaper founded by Vladimir Kuchmiy. Printed in 31 cities of Russia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the United States, it is the biggest-selling sports newspaper in Russia, with the dail ...

named Traoré as the most outstanding player at Anzhi in his first season. In his second season at Anzhi, Traoré started his season very well when he scored in a 1–1 draw against

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

. However, the announcement was marred with restructuring at business level, which lead Anzhi chose to transfer list their whole squad, including recent signing Traoré. To add an insult to an injury, Traoré have his own concern when he suffered injuries.

Monaco

On 4 January 2014, Traoré signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. The fee is said to be around $14 million. Traoré also have previous interests with the club in the last summer transfer window. Monaco was planning to sign Traoré and then loan him back to Anzhi.

Loan to Everton

After joining Monaco,

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

battled it out with other clubs to sign Traoré. Instead, Traoré joined Everton on loan on 24 January 2014 until the end of the

2013–14 Premier League The 2013–14 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd season of the Premier League, the top-flight English professional league for men's football clubs, and the 115th season of top-flight Engli ...

season after his work permit was granted and given the number 28 shirt. He scored his first Everton goal on his debut on 16 February, the opener in a 3–1 FA Cup win over

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

. Traoré injured his hamstring in the warm-up for the game against Chelsea on 22 February 2014, and was ruled out until the final game of the season where he made his only league appearance as an injury time substitute against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

Return to Monaco

After a disastrous spell at Everton, Traoré was given a chance in the first team by new manager Leonardo Jardim after being recalled ahead of the new season. However, he received a setback when he suffered a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the first nine matches at the start of the season. Manager Jardim made comment about Traoré quoting: "He was wounded. He will return. I trust him." Following his recovery, Traoré made his Monaco debut, where he came on as a substitute for

Anthony Martial Anthony Jordan Martial (; born 5 December 1995) is a French professional footballer who plays for Super League Greece club AEK Athens. After playing youth football for Les Ulis, Martial began his professional career at Lyon, before transferri ...

in the 64th minute, in a 2–0 win over

Evian Evian (, ; , stylized as evian) is a French brand that bottles mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. Evian is owned by Danone, a French multinational corporation. In addition to the miner ...

on 17 October 2014. Traoré scored his first Monaco goal on 9 November, in a 1–1 draw against

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

. On 3 January 2016, when Monaco hosted seventh-tier Saint-Jean Beaulieu in the last 64 of the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

, Traoré scored four goals in an eventual 10–2 victory, despite being sent off at half time.

Loan to CSKA Moscow

On 13 July 2016, he returned to Russia, joining

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

on loan for the 2016–17 season. On 29 January 2017, following CSKA's signing of another striker Aaron Olanare, Traoré was removed from CSKA's Russian Premier League roster, as he was negotiating another loan deal to

Sporting Gijón Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play *Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *BFA Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon *Real Sporti ...

Loan to Sporting Gijón

On 31 January 2017, he signed a loan deal with

that ran until the end of the 2016–17 season. He made his debut in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

on 5 February 2017 against Alavés when he came on as a substitute in the 70th minute and scored on his debut, as his team lost with the score of 2–4. He started in the next game for Gijón on 12 February 2017 against

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid. They currently compete in La Liga, the first tier of the Spanish league system. Leganés was officially founded 23 June 1928 and played thei ...

Loan to Amiens

On 31 August 2017, Traoré joined Ligue 1 side

Amiens SC Amiens Sporting Club (; commonly referred to as Amiens SC or simply Amiens) is a French association football club based in the northern city of Amiens in the Hauts-de-France region. The club was formed in 1901 and play in Ligue 2, the second d ...

on a season-long loan deal.

Újpest

In February 2019, he moved to Hungarian club

Újpest FC Újpest Football Club () is a Hungary, Hungarian professional association football, football club based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Formed in 1885, Újpest reached the first division of the Hungarian League in ...

Return to CFR Cluj

On 15 August 2019, after 8 years, he returned to Romanian First League champions

International career

2011 CAF U-23 Championship

Traoré was involved in Ivory Coast's successful 2011 CAF U-23 Championship qualification campaign. Traoré scored against Liberia U23 in a 4–0 win. He was also named in the Ivory Coast squad for the final stage of the tournament, which acted as CAF's qualification for the Summer Olympics football tournament. Ivory Coast did not fare too well in the competition, finishing third in the Group stage behind Egypt and Gabon. Traoré scored a consolation goal against Gabon in a 3–1 loss.

2013 CAF Africa Cup of Nations

Traoré was selected in the final squad for the Ivorians, playing in two games. He played for 68 minutes versus Tunisia, before he was replaced by

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He is the Top international association football goal scorers by cou ...

. Then, he had a 7-minute cameo versus Nigeria in the quarter final stage which ended the Ivorians' campaign following a 2–1 loss. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Traoré was initially featured as part of the country's World Cup squad, but was then left out after the national team's manager selected the final squad.

Personal life

Traoré is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and he has 16 brothers. Two of them were also footballers: Messa, who had a spell in Romania at Politehnica Timișoara, and Lajo Ménéné, who started his European career at

, being brought there by Lacina.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

CFR Cluj *

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

: 2009–10, 2019–20 *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

: 2008–09, 2009–10 *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994 Supe ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

International

Ivory Coast *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

External links