Mohamed Bayo, Clermont Foot's top scorer over the last two seasons, has joined LOSC. The 24-year-old striker signed a five-year contract with Les Dogues on Wednesday.
Mohamed Bayo, who was playing for Clermont Foot, has signed a five-year contract with LOSC, the two clubs announced on Wednesday. The 24-year-old Guinean international leaves CF63, with whom he scored 14 goals in Ligue 1 Uber Eats last season, after joining the club's pre-youth academy aged just six.
Top scorer in Ligue 2 BKT in 2021
Although he is a pure product of the Clermont youth system, Bayo broke into the limelight in the North, at USL Dunkerque, where he was loaned out during the 2019-20 season, bagging 12 goals. He was then one of the driving forces behind Clermont's accession to Ligue 1 Uber Eats in the spring of 2021, top-scoring in Ligue 2 BKT in 2020-21 with 22 goals.
The best attacking element of a team that has struggled to find the net in the top flight (38 goals in as many games), he has nevertheless contributed to the Auvergne club's top-flight survival with his goals. He was highly rated on the transfer market.
At Lille, Mohamed Bayo is expected to replace Burak Yilmaz and join Canadian Jonathan David up front.
"We welcome Mohamed to LOSC with great pleasure and satisfaction. The pleasure of seeing a powerful striker join us, with a complete profile and already experienced in the demands of Ligue 1 Uber Eats. And it's satisfying to have attracted and convinced a much sought-after player to join the club," stressed president Olivier Létang in a statement published on LOSC's website.
"It is a unique feeling for me to have signed at LOSC, a very big club, a footballing institution," declared Bayo. "I am very happy and proud to have been chosen by the Lille management."
Bayo becomes Les Dogues' fifth summer signing after right-back Akim Zedadka, defensive midfielder Jonas Martin, Brazilian centre-back Alexsandro and attacking midfielder Rémy Cabella.
>> TRANSFERS: All the summer moves
(Photo credit: LOSC)
