Bertrand Traoré

Chelsea

In August 2010, it was reported that Traoré had joined the Chelsea Academy from French club Auxerre in August 2010, rejecting Manchester United in the process.

In January 2011, however, Traoré had not yet signed for the club, and in January 2012 the club confirmed that Traoré was not and had never been a Chelsea player, but had appeared once for the club's youth team in a friendly as part of a six-week trial earlier in the season. On 17 July 2013, however, he made his debut, as a trialist, in a pre-season friendly against the Singha All Stars.

On 31 October 2013, Traoré officially signed a four-and-half year contract with Chelsea. He signed a contract for Chelsea's senior team in December 2013, and completed the transfer on the 1 January 2014.

Loan to Vitesse

On 2 January 2014, Traoré signed on loan for Eredivisie side Vitesse. On 26 January, he made his debut, coming on in the 67th minute for fellow Chelsea loanee Lucas Piazon. On 29 March 2014, Traoré scored his first goal, against Heerenveen. He replaced Mike Havenaar after half-time; in the 67th minute, he scored Vitesse's second goal of the game which was assisted by fellow Chelsea loanee, Christian Atsu. On 6 April, Traoré scored his second goal of the season in a home match against Ajax which ended in a 1–1 draw. On 12 April, Traoré put Vitesse in the lead for the first time in the match against Cambuur, although Vitesse lost the game 4–3 in the end.

On 7 July 2014, it was confirmed that Traoré would stay at Vitesse on loan for the 2014–15 season. Traoré scored his first goal of the season in a 4–1 victory over Willem II on 18 October. While he primarily played on the right wing during his first loan to Vitesse, around December, Traoré made the switch from the right to being the lone striker up top leading up to him scoring on 14 December in a 1–1 draw against Groningen. In the following games, Traoré scored his first brace in a 4–0 win over Ajax in the KNVB Cup, then three days later scored his first league brace in a 3–0 win over Heracles.

2015–16 season: Promotion to first-team

On 22 June 2015, Traoré received a work permit and therefore clearance to play for Chelsea for the 2015–16 season onwards. He was given the number 14 shirt, previously worn by André Schürrle. On 16 September, Traoré made his Chelsea debut in a 4–0 victory against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the UEFA Champions League group stage, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute for Ruben Loftus-Cheek. His Premier League debut came on 5 December, playing the final seven minutes of a 0–1 home loss to AFC Bournemouth.

On 31 January 2016, Traoré scored his first Chelsea goal in a 5–1 victory at Milton Keynes Dons in the FA Cup, confirming the result five minutes after coming on in place of Diego Costa. Two weeks later, after again replacing Costa, he scored his first Premier League goal in a game of the same result against Newcastle United. He scored four goals in five games; with Costa rested on 5 March ahead of a Champions League game, Traoré was given a start at home to Stoke City and scored from 20 yards to open a 1–1 draw, but his performance was described as "mixed" due to "failing to control the ball in the box on a couple of occasions and being caught offside needlessly".

Loan to Ajax

On 12 August 2016, Traoré signed a new three-year contract with Chelsea and joined Ajax on loan for the 2016–17 campaign, which reunited him with former Vitesse manager, Peter Bosz. On the following day, Traoré made his league debut off the bench, replacing Kasper Dolberg in a 2–2 home draw against Roda JC. On August 16, Traoré made his first start in a Champions League play-off round against Rostov, a 1–1 draw. On 15 September 2016, Traoré scored his first Ajax goal in a Europa League group stage tie against Panathinaikos, scoring Ajax's equalizer in the 34th minute. The Dutch side went on to win the game 2–1, courtesy of a Jaïro Riedewald goal. Just over a week later, Traoré went onto score his first league goal for Ajax in a 5–1 thrashing over PEC Zwolle, weaving his way through the defence to score Ajax's fourth.

On 3 November 2016, Bosz criticized Traoré in an interview stating that there's "nothing wrong with his attitude, but his shape is not good".

International career

Traoré participated at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup and 2011 African U-17 Championship, and helped Burkina Faso beat Rwanda 2–1 in the continental final.

At the age of 15, Traoré made his debut for the senior national team on 3 September 2011, in a friendly match against Equatorial Guinea. He made his first appearance at an Africa Cup of Nations finals in the 2012 edition, becoming one of the youngest players to do so. He came on as a 66th-minute substitute for Narcisse Yaméogo in the 2–1 loss to Sudan in their final group stage match as the nation was eliminated.

Traoré scored his first goal for the main side on 14 August 2013, the first of a 2–1 away win over Morocco. At the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, he played all three of the team's games in another group stage exit, starting the first two.

International goals

Career statistics

Country

Burkina Faso U17

Personal life

Traoré's father, Feu Traoré Isaï, was also a footballer. He played for RC Bobo and also represented Burkina Faso at international level. Bertrand is the youngest of four children. The second-eldest, Alain, is also a footballer.