Is Bafetimbi Gomis worth the hype?
Joji Imamiya
On August 8, Kawasaki Frontale caused shockwaves within the Japanese game by announcing the signing of Bafetimbi Gomis. Born in the commune of La Seyne-sur-Mer, in the region of Côte d'Azur, Gomis has had a nomadic but prolific professional career. A product of the Saint-Étienne academy, it required a few seasons in the French top flight to assert himself as a prominent goalscoring threat.
By the time his big-money transfer came, Gomis betrayed the Saint-Étienne faithful by hopping over the city to join arch-rivals Olympique Lyonnais. Although Lyon were the dominant force of the 2000s, Gomis failed to recreate the glory days, as silverware came only in the form of a Coupe de France and the Super Cup.
On a personal front, however, he never failed to reach double figures in the Ligue 1 goalscoring charts, with the highlight being a 2011 four-goal haul against Champions League minnows Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia. It was registered as the fastest hat trick in the competition. These efforts were sufficient to convince the Swansea City hierarchy to sign him, a Premier League outfit at the time.
Following his spell in the English top flight and Marseille, Gomis headed east to join Galatasaray, where he was at his deadliest. In the 2017-18 Super Lig for Galatasaray, Gomis was on target 29 times in 33 games.
After a fruitful campaign in which he bagged the league title and swooped up the individual awards, Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Hilal made an offer Gomis could not refuse. During his five-year stay, Gomis was a constant nightmare for opposition defenders in the domestic league and in the AFC Champions League. As Al-Hilal faced Urawa Reds in the 2019 final, Gomis capped off a tremendous season by being on the scoresheet and taking home the MVP award. He was also the first European top scorer of the competition.
Gomis was to replicate his accolade in the 2021 edition by overcoming Pohang Steelers at the King Fahd International Stadium, where he lined up alongside Matheus Pereira and Moussa Marega, both of whom have been cast off since to make way for the superstars of Al-Za'eem (Al-Hilal's nickname) of today.
The French forward suffered a similar fate in his second stint at Galatasaray, as the Turkish giants went on a massive shopping spree in both summers of 2022 and 2023. As Gomis could not compete with Mauro Icardi, Dries Mertens and Haris Seferovic for a spot, he decided to look for game time elsewhere, which is when Frontale came calling.
On being questioned about his choice, Gomis replied; "No doubt Kawasaki has been one of the greatest Japanese teams over the last half-decade. I'm on board with the project and the ambition that they have displayed for me."
His shirt number is significant. No. 18 has been worn by the likes of Chanathip Songkrasin and of course current Brighton starlet Kaoru Mitoma. It is a signal from Kawasaki indicating their confidence in the marquee signing. Gomis made his belated debut on Friday the 15th, of September against FC Tokyo in the Tamagawa Clasico.
Whilst it was a Brazilian attacker Marcinho who grabbed the headlines by scoring the only goal of the game, the emergence of the harmonized duo of Gomis and fellow Brazilian Leandro Damião is what Kawasaki fans are looking forward to. They will have to be a little more patient to see the famous "lion" celebration inspired by Malian footballer Salif Keïta, the first recipient of the African Footballer of the Year award in 1970.
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