Yakou Méïté

Yakou Méïté (born 11 February 1996) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a winger and striker for Championship side Reading and the Ivory Coast national team.

Yakou Méïté
Personal information
Full name Yakou Méïté
Date of birth (1996-02-11) 11 February 1996
Place of birth Paris, France
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Winger, striker
Club information
Current team
 Reading
Number 11
Youth career
2009–2014 Paris Saint-Germain
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Paris Saint-Germain B 45 (8)
2015–2016 Paris Saint-Germain 1 (0)
2016– Reading 103 (32)
2017–2018 → Sochaux (loan) 31 (3)
National team‡
2013 Ivory Coast U17 5 (1)
2015 Ivory Coast U20 4 (0)
2017– Ivory Coast U23 1 (0)
2018– Ivory Coast 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:03, 9 December 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2019

Club career

Paris Saint Germain

Born in Paris, Méïté started his professional career at Paris Saint-Germain. He made his professional debut on 9 April 2016 in the Ligue 1 against Guingamp replacing Jean-Kévin Augustin after 91 minutes in a 2–0 away win.[1]

Reading

On 29 July 2016, Méïté signed a three-year contract with English side Reading.[2] Méïte made his debut for Reading as a substitute in an EFL Cup tie against Plymouth Argyle on 9 August 2016,[3] with his first goal for the club coming on 21 January 2017, during a 3–2 defeat to Derby County in the Championship.[4]

On 8 July 2017, Méïté moved to Sochaux on a season-long loan deal.[5]

On 3 October 2018, Reading announced that Méïte had signed a new contract with Reading, until the summer of 2022.[6] On his return to Reading he became a mainstay as the club's striker and scored 6 goals in 5 games, impressing manager Paul Clement.[7]

In August 2019 Méïté spoke out about racist abuse he received on social media.[8] He said he chose to do so due to the impact it had on players.[9] On 4 July 2020, he scored four goals in a 5–0 win away at Luton Town.[10]

International career

Méïté was born and raised in France to Ivorian parents. He has played for the Ivory Coast U17s and U20s.[11] He debuted for the Ivory Coast U23s in a 5–0 friendly win over the Togo U23s on 27 March 2018.[12]

Méïté was also called up to the senior Ivory Coast squad for a friendly against Togo in March 2018.[13] He was selected for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Guinea on 18 November 2018.[14] He made his debut for Ivory Coast on 26 March 2019 in a 1–0 victory over Liberia, playing 73 minutes before being replaced by eventual goalscorer Jonathan Kodjia.[15]

Style of play

Méïté is a physically strong player. He has impressive strength, ability in the air, speed and tireless stamina. Paul Clement praised him for his workrate and willingness to battle for every ball.[7]

Career statistics
As of matches played 12 December 2020[11]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Paris Saint-Germain B 2013–14 CFA 1 0 — — — — 1 0
2014–15 CFA 20 6 — — — — 20 6
2015–16 CFA 24 2 — — — — 24 2
Total 45 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 8
Paris Saint-Germain 2015–16 Ligue 1 100000000010
Reading 2016–17 Championship 1410010— 00151
2018–19 Championship 37121021—— 4013
2019–20 Championship 40133222— — 4517
2020–21 Championship 1260000— — 126
Total 103324253000011237
Reading U21 2016–17 — — — — 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 1 0
Sochaux (loan) 2017–18 Ligue 2 3133210— — 355
Career total 179437463001019450
  1. Appearance in EFL Trophy

International
As of match played 13 October 2019
Ivory Coast
YearAppsGoals
201810
201910
Total20

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain U19

Paris Saint-Germain

Reading U23

References
  1. "Guingamp vs. PSG - 9 April 2016 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  2. "Royals swoop to sign Yakou Meite". reading.co.uk. Reading F.C. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  3. "Reading 2-0 Plymouth". BBC. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  4. "Derby 3-2 Reading". readingfc.co.uk. Reading F.C. 21 January 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  5. "Meite returns to France for loan season at Sochaux". readingfc.co.uk. Reading F.C. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  6. "Méïté pens new long-term deal as a Royal". readingfc.co.uk. Reading F.C. 3 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  7. ""Fighting spirit and attitude… Yakou has that in abundance!"". www.readingfc.co.uk.
  8. "Yakou Meite: Reading striker calls out racist abuse". BBC Sport. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  9. "Yakou Meite: Reading striker chose to share racist abuse to demonstrate impact on players". BBC Sport. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  10. "Luton 0-5 Reading". BBC. 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  11. Yakou Méïté at Soccerway. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  12. Ewan. "Yakou Méïté et les U23 de la Côte d'Ivoire s'imposent face au Togo". fcsochaux.fr.
  13. "Togo vs Ivory Coast". ESPN. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  14. http://www.fifciv.com/?q=elim-can-2019-5%C3%A8-j-guiciv-voici-les-23-el%C3%A9phants-s%C3%A9lectionn%C3%A9s
  15. "CÔTE D'IVOIRE 1-0 LIBERIA". soccerway.com/. Soccerway. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
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