54 Facts About Sol Bamba

Sol Bamba moved to Scotland to join Dunfermline Athletic in 2006, helping the club reach the final of the Scottish Cup in his first season.

Sol Bamba eventually joined Leeds on a permanent deal and was appointed club captain, spending a further year with the club before being released and subsequently joining Cardiff City.

Sol Bamba retired in 2022 after one year at Middlesbrough, and was assistant manager of Cardiff in 2023 and manager of Adanaspor in Turkey at the time of his death.

Sol Bamba was chosen for two World Cups and three Africa Cup of Nations, finishing as a runner-up in the latter in 2012.

Sol Bamba began his career with Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain at the age of 11.

Sol Bamba had been spotted by club scouts playing street football in Paris but initially turned the club down as his mother hoped for him to become a doctor.

Sol Bamba lived with his parents Sehrata and Bakary Bamba in Ivry-sur-Seine, a suburb in central Paris.

Dissatisfied with his lack of appearances, Sol Bamba asked to be sent out on loan to gain experience but was denied by manager, Vahid Halilhodzic, causing Sol Bamba to reject PSG's offer of a new contract and subsequently leave the club.

Jim Leishman later revealed that he had been intending to bring over another player from France on trial, but this deal fell through and Sol Bamba's agent sent him instead.

Sol Bamba was allowed to go on trial with Championship side Watford in July 2008, appearing in a friendly for them against Boreham Wood.

The deal was thought to be almost complete, with Watford sending a doctor to China, where Sol Bamba had travelled with the Ivory Coast Olympic squad, to conduct his medical.

Sol Bamba chose to move to Hibernian, signing a three-year contract with the club.

Sol Bamba was sent off on his debut for a second bookable offence against Dundee United, but Bamba subsequently established himself in the Hibs first team.

The Edinburgh Evening News reported on 8 May 2010 that Sol Bamba's performances had "not gone unnoticed", with scouts from Fulham and Rennes due to watch Sol Bamba.

Sol Bamba angered manager John Hughes when he failed to report for a pre-season tour of the Netherlands in July 2010.

Sol Bamba responded angrily to the criticism by claiming that he needed a full three weeks off after returning from the World Cup and had attempted to contact both Hughes and Hibernian's chairman to discuss the situation, but Hughes dropped Sol Bamba from the first team squad when he eventually returned to Edinburgh.

Sol Bamba was reunited at Leicester with his former Ivory Coast manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Blackburn manager Steve Kean had claimed that the two clubs had made a bid for Sol Bamba and described the move as being "quite close" to being completed.

Sol Bamba later expressed his regret at leaving the club, stating his belief in Pearson's ability to help them win promotion to the Premier League.

Sol Bamba only made 18 appearances during his first season at the club, missing a proportion of fixtures in December and January in part because he was away with Ivory Coast as they qualified for the 2013 African Cup of Nations.

Sol Bamba was not selected to play for Tranzonspor again after suffering the injury, however he recovered in time to play for Ivory Coast at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

On 26 August 2014, after having been released by Trabzonspor, Sol Bamba agreed a three-year deal with newly promoted Serie A club Palermo.

On 23 January 2015, less than six months into his Palermo contract, Sol Bamba was loaned to Championship side Leeds United for the remainder of the season, with the possibility of making the transfer permanent at a later date.

Less than a month after joining the side, Sol Bamba was named captain for three games in place of Liam Cooper.

On 1 September 2016, Sol Bamba, despite being Leeds' captain, was released by the club.

Sol Bamba's contract was cancelled by mutual consent following the close of the transfer window the previous day.

Sol Bamba instead joined Neil Warnock at Cardiff City in October 2016, signing a two-year contract.

Sol Bamba signed a new three-year contract on 25 August 2017, following it up by heading in the winner against Queens Park Rangers the next day.

Sol Bamba went on to help the club win promotion to the Premier League after finishing the season in second place.

Sol Bamba was ever present in the league, appearing in all 46 league matches, and was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year.

In June 2021, Cardiff announced that Sol Bamba was one of five players to be released.

Sol Bamba said that he was upset to have learned the news from the club's Twitter post.

Sol Bamba was re-united with former manager Neil Warnock after joining Middlesbrough on a one-year contract on 10 August 2021.

On 4 February 2022, Sol Bamba came on as a substitute in the 28th minute of extra time in Middlesbrough's FA Cup tie against Manchester United.

Sol Bamba featured at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, the 2005 African Youth Championship and the 2008 Toulon Tournament.

Sol Bamba was part of the Ivory Coast squad that reached the quarter-finals of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Sol Bamba won his first cap at full international level for Ivory Coast in a 2008 friendly match against Israel, and his second cap as a late substitute in a friendly against Turkey.

Sol Bamba became a regular in the national team as they qualified for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Sol Bamba scored his first goal for the team in a friendly against Rwanda, as part of the squad's preparation for the 2010 African Cup.

Sol Bamba played in all of Ivory Coast's matches at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, but the team suffered a quarter-final defeat to Algeria after extra time.

The "uneasy" central defensive partnership between Kolo Toure and Sol Bamba was cited as one of the reasons for their defeat.

Sol Bamba was selected in the Ivory Coast's 23-man World Cup squad, but was dropped from the starting lineup, with midfielder Didier Zokora chosen to partner with Kolo Toure in central defence.

Sol Bamba resumed his partnership with Toure at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

At the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Sol Bamba played in central defence alongside Zokora after Toure contracted malaria before the tournament.

Sol Bamba was called up to the squad for 10 September 2014 fixture against Cameroon, however on 29 December 2014 he was a surprising omission from the Ivory Coast squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

Sol Bamba was appointed assistant manager of Cardiff City in January 2023.

Sol Bamba was appointed by the incoming Sabri Lamouchi, who managed him for the Ivory Coast between 2012 and 2014.

Sol Bamba left the club in June 2023 as Erol Bulut came in as manager.

Sol Bamba was appointed head coach of Adanaspor in July 2024, who he managed until his death the following month.

Chiefly a centre-back, Sol Bamba played as a defensive midfielder during his emergence at PSG, before becoming a centre-back at age 15.

Sol Bamba had sporadically played in the midfield since then, most successfully for Mixu Paatelainen at Hibs.

Sol Bamba met his English wife Chloe while playing for Leicester.

Sol Bamba was multilingual, being able to speak English, French, Italian, Turkish and "the Ivorian dialect that his father used at home".

Sol Bamba died the following day, at the age of 39.