LOSC Lille winger Jonathan Bamba is a man reborn this season.
The 24-year-old’s stunning opener against Olympique Lyonnais last weekend was not enough for Lille to win the game, but it was further evidence that the LOSC number 7 is back to his best form again.
“Jonathan has been in fantastic form at the start of this season. Full credit to him,” said coach Christophe Galtier after Bamba scored his fourth goal of the campaign in the 1-1 Round 9 draw at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
With four assists to his name too, Bamba has been at the heart of Lille’s unbeaten start. Such is his influence on the team, the AS Saint-Etienne academy graduate has only missed one minute of Lille’s nine league outings so far.
“Jo is on the pitch more often than not, and if that’s the case, it’s that he is an important player for the team. He helps keep us balanced, and on top of all that he’s rediscovered the form he showed two years ago,” said Galtier.
Indeed Galtier’s faith in Bamba is paying dividends. Last season, the wide forward struggled to shake off an injury picked up while on duty with the France Under-21 side, and failed to score a single goal from open play.
Watch Bamba's goal against Lyon
A penalty in the third game of the season proved to be his only goal of the campaign. But Galtier refused to drop him, despite Bamba looking a totally different player to the one who scored 13 goals the previous year playing alongside Nicolas Pépé.
“Last year was very difficult for him, but the year before was very good. Right now, he’s very very good,” Galtier said.
Bamba began the season grabbing Lille’s only goal in each of their first two outings, a 1-1 draw with Stade Rennais FC being followed by a 1-0 win at Stade de Reims. That ended a run of more than two years without scoring in consecutive league games. More than enough to get his confidence back, and just reward for his work ethic.
“He works very hard. There’s everything that you can see, but he also works incredibly hard behind the scenes to make sure he is at his best,” remarked his coach.
Bamba has bite and strength that most wingers would be jealous of, and his eye for goal is sharper than many a forward. Galtier, who handed him his professional debut nearly six years ago at Saint-Etienne, is finding it difficult to do without the input of one of his protégés.
