Jonathan Adjo Kodjia ( bear 22 October 1989 ) is an Ivorian professional football player who plays as a advancing for Al-Gharafa SC in the Qatar Stars League and the Ivory Coast national team. Born in the suburb of Paris, France, Kodjia started his career at Reims and gained experience in the Championnat National ( french one-third division ) and Ligue 2 with Cherbourg, Caen and Amiens. Kodjia moved to Angers in 2014, ultimately winning Ligue 2 Player of the year 2015 and being named in the Ligue 2 team of the Season .

early life [edit ]

Kodjia was born in Saint-Denis, a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris. [ 3 ] After leaving school in 2007, he enrolled at college to build on his bachelor’s degree in accountancy. At the long time of 18, he was approached by an agent who got in touch with him and said he ’ d seen him playing and found him interesting. The agent then arranged a trial with Ligue 2 side Stade de Reims, where he scored 3 goals and signed a professional sign 6 months belated. [ 4 ]

Club career [edit ]

Stade de Reims [edit ]

Kodjia made his professional debut in a 4–1 loss against Dijon. In the beginning four seasons at the club, Kodjia rarely played and was never able to score for the Reims beginning team, his most fat campaign being when he made 13 appearances after the club had dropped into France ‘s third base tier. successful loan moves to Cherbourg, Caen and Amiens earned him a move to Angers. [ 4 ]

Angers [edit ]

Kodjia moved to Angers in 2014 where he won the Ligue 2 Player of the year 2015 and was besides named in the Ligue 2 team of the Season, after scoring 15 goals in 29 games during the 2014–15 Ligue 2 to help Angers gain promotion to the french top trajectory after finishing in 3rd place. On 1 August 2014, he made his Angers debut in a 3–2 off loss against Nîmes, besides scoring his first two goals for the club in the same game. [ 5 ]

Bristol City [edit ]

Kodjia joined Bristol City on a three-year deal for £2 million from Angers, with the option of a far year on 20 July 2015. [ 5 ] He scored his first competitive goal for Bristol City on 15 August 2015 in a 4–2 kill to Brentford, converting a pass from Luke Ayling to give City a 1–0 jumper cable. He scored 20 goals in 48 appearances in his debut season at Bristol City. [ 6 ]

Aston Villa [edit ]

On 30 August 2016, Kodjia signed with Aston Villa on a four-year compress for an initial fee of £11 million, that could potentially rise to £15 million. [ 7 ] He scored his first base league goal for the club, on his introduction, against Brentford. [ 8 ] Kodjia ‘s next goal came in a 1–1 tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers from the spot after Jack Grealish was fouled in Steve Bruce ‘s first bet on as Villa coach. He then scored the opener in a 2–1 win off at Reading fair 3 days late. His belated acrobatic goal against Fulham on 22 October won the game 1–0 for Villa, making it 3 goals in 3 games and back to back wins for the club. [ citation needed ] Kodjia started November in lead form bagging 2 goals against a struggling Blackburn Rovers on side on Bonfire night to help Villa come from 1–0 down to win the game 2–1. His seventh goal of the temper then came later in the month with a fine header in a 3–1 winnings over Cardiff City at Villa Park. Kodjia scored 6 goals in Steve Bruce ‘s first 7 games in charge and his form helped propel Villa from the relegation zone up to 11th within Bruce ‘s first calendar month at the club. Kodjia ‘s performances won him the PFA Championship player of the month for November. He broke his ankle in April 2017, which prematurely ended his season and would see him miss the get down of the 2017/18 season. [ 9 ] He finished the season with 19 goals in 36 games in his beginning season. [ 10 ] Kodja injured his ankle again in the bowler hat match against Birmingham City in October 2017 which was further aggravated on external duty, the wound required surgery which ruled him out until March 2018. [ 11 ] He returned from injury to help Villa reach the 2018 EFL Championship play-off Final, [ 12 ] play in the final as a alternate, as Villa lost 1–0 to Fulham in the concluding and therefore missed out on promotion to the Premier League. [ 13 ]

2018–19 season [edit ]

On 28 April 2019, Kodjia was injured while playing against Leeds United in the EFL Championship. With Villa players wanting the ball put out of play so that Kodjia could receive treatment, Leeds continued playing and scored. Following the goal, there was a bombastic confrontation between the opposing sides, which lead the Leeds coach, Marcelo Bielsa, to allow Aston Villa to equalise undisputed. [ 14 ]

On 19 January 2020, Kodjia was presented to the media by Al-Gharafa in the Qatar Stars League, coached by former Premier League director Slaviša Jokanović. [ 15 ] On 23 January 2020, Kodjia made his debut in a 4-2 gain over Al-Rayyan, in which he scored a hat-trick. [ 16 ]

International career [edit ]

Kodjia was born in France to Ivorian parents. [ 17 ] He was contacted first by the Benin Football Association as his surname has origins in that area, but was not eligible. [ 17 ] He was subsequently called up by the Ivory Coast national football team in May 2016 and made his introduction in a friendly versus Hungary in a 0–0 pull. [ 18 ] He scored his inaugural international goal against Gabon on 4 June 2016, volleying home to score the first goal of the plot. Ivory Coast would go on to win 2–1. [ 19 ]

career statistics [edit ]

golf club [edit ]

As of match played 10 April 2021[20]

International [edit ]

As of match played on 14 July 2019[21]
Ivory Coast
Year Apps Goals
2016 6 3
2017 5 2
2018 4 2
2019 9 4
Total 24 11

International goals [edit ]

Scores and results list Ivory Coast’s goal tally first.[21]

Honours [edit ]

Angers
Aston Villa
Individual

References [edit ]