Yannick Bolasie

Early career

Bolasie began his career with Rushden & Diamonds at age 16. He spent four months as a member of their youth team and then had a spell with Hillingdon Borough in the Southern Football League before moving across Europe to play for Floriana in the Maltese Premier League. He returned to England in 2008 after being offered a trial with Plymouth Argyle and impressed enough to be offered a two-year contract. He joined Dagenham & Redbridge on trial with a view to a loan move before returning to Rushden & Diamonds on loan near the end of the year. He made his debut against Eastbourne Borough on 29 November, and made seven appearances in the Conference before returning to Argyle in January 2009. Bolasie then joined Barnet on loan, making his Football League debut against Accrington Stanley on 24 January 2009. He scored his first goal two weeks later, opening the scoring in a 3–3 draw against Grimsby Town. Bolasie returned to Argyle at the end of the 2008–09 season having made 20 league appearances for Barnet, scoring three goals. The club's manager, Ian Hendon, was keen to bring Bolasie back, but dismissed the chances of signing him permanently. Hendon said, "Yannick is still under contract at Plymouth, so it is likely that he will return there at the end of the season." He rejoined the Barnet squad in July 2009 ahead of the new season on a six-month loan, and hoped it would act as a springboard to winning a place in the Argyle first team. Bolasie scored against…

Bolasie was eligible to represent France, England and DR Congo internationally through birth, upbringing and heritage respectively. In January 2013 while playing in the Championship for Crystal Palace, Bolasie rejected the chance to represent the DR Congo in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations claiming that he did not want to disrupt making progress in his club career. In March 2013, Bolasie was again called up to the Democratic Republic of Congo squad, and made his international debut in a 2014 World Cup qualification 0–0 draw with Libya. Bolasie was selected in the Congolese squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea. He scored the equaliser in their first group game, a 1–1 draw against Zambia at the Estadio de Ebibeyin on 18 January. The team finished in third place.

Club

As of match played 22 July 2026

International

As of match played 25 March 2022

As of match played 25 March 2022 DR Congo score listed first, score column indicates score after each Bolasie goal

His parents were born in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bolasie was born in the French city of Lyon, but moved to England when he was seven months old and grew up in the London borough of Brent. Lomana LuaLua, Kazenga LuaLua and Trésor Kandol are his cousins. His younger brother Ruddock Yala is a footballer, who played for Harrow Borough, Grays Athletic, Boreham Wood and Maldon & Tiptree. Bolasie holds an active interest in grime music. In 2014, he filmed a rap battle with fellow professional footballer Bradley Wright-Phillips for the long running grime DVD series Lord of the Mics.