Tiémoué Bakayoko (born 17 August 1994) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Super League Greece club PAOK.

He is considered to have all-round ability, as well as possessing physical power and athleticism, with France manager Didier Deschamps describing him as "a complete midfielder."

[8][9] Bakayoko joined Monaco in July 2014 for £7 million,[10] and made his debut for the club on 10 August 2014 in a Ligue 1 match against Lorient.

[11][12][13] His early substitution by Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim created a strained relationship between the two, with Bakayoko saying: "From then on, something was a little broken between him and me".

[6] After his debut, Bakayoko didn't start another match for over two months, with the remainder of his season blighted by injuries and inconsistent form.

Not only had he established himself as an important part of Monaco's team with consistent performances, he had fewer injuries and his application during training was no longer criticised.

He was criticised for his performances by fans and pundits alike, with games against both Watford, where he was sent off after only 30 minutes, and a 3–0 away defeat by Newcastle United on the last day of the Premier League season being singled out as two of his worst.

[22][23][24][25][26] Bakayoko continued his poor form into the 2018–19 season, finding himself culpable for Inter Milan's equaliser in a 1–1 pre-season draw, having lost possession in midfield.

[28][29] His career in Italy did not get off to a good start, and he was labelled 'confused’, 'a disaster', and 'messy' after a poor performance in a UEFA Europa League game against Olympiacos, in which he gifted the Greek team the opener in a 3–1 win.

[33][34] On 31 August 2019, Bakayoko agreed to rejoin Ligue 1 club Monaco on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season,[35] with an option to make the move permanent for a reported fee of €42.5 million.

[47] Bakayoko was called up to the senior France squad for the first time to face Luxembourg and Spain in March 2017 after Paul Pogba withdrew through injury.

Bakayoko's manager at Monaco, Leonardo Jardim, said: "He wins a lot of balls, brings balance to the team.

"[53][54] France manager Didier Deschamps described Bakayoko as "a complete midfielder", and said: "He has an important athletic presence, he's good at recovery, he scores decisive goals and is able to project himself.

"[55] His manager at Milan, Gennaro Gattuso, said that Bakayoko plays as a deep-lying midfielder in an atypical way, because sometimes prefers to point and go past the opponent instead of launching the ball, so creating a numerical advantage in favour of his team.