Jonathan Kodjia
Personal information
Full name Jonathan Adjo Kodjia[1]
Date of birth (1989-10-22) 22 October 1989[2]
Place of birth Saint-Denis, France
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Annecy
Number 24
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2014 Reims 22 (0)
2011–2012 → Cherbourg (loan) 16 (3)
2012–2013 → Amiens (loan) 34 (9)
2013–2014 → Caen (loan) 27 (5)
2013–2014 → Caen B (loan) 2 (0)
2014–2015 Angers 28 (15)
2015–2016 Bristol City 49 (19)
2016–2020 Aston Villa 96 (29)
2020–2022 Al-Gharafa 30 (18)
2022–2023 Umm Salal 13 (4)
2023– Annecy 7 (0)
International career‡
2016– Ivory Coast 27 (11)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 January 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 March 2021 (UTC)

Jonathan Adjo Kodjia (born 22 October 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 2 club Annecy. Born in France, he plays for the Ivory Coast national team at International level.

Kodjia started his career at Reims and gained experience in the Championnat National (French 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

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 baccalaureate in accountancy. At the age 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 contract six months later.[4]

Club career

Reims

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

Angers

Kodjia moved to Angers in 2014 where he won the Ligue 2 Player of the Year 2015 and was also 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 flight after finishing in 3rd place. On 1 August 2014, he made his Angers debut in a 3–2 away loss against Nîmes, also scoring his first two goals for the club in the same game.[5]

Bristol City

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

Aston Villa

On 30 August 2016, Kodjia signed with Aston Villa on a four-year contract for an initial fee of £11 million, that could potentially rise to £15 million.[7] He scored his first league goal for the club, in his second game, against Brentford.[8] Kodjia's next goal came in a 1–1 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers from the spot after Jack Grealish was fouled in Steve Bruce's first game as Villa manager. He then scored the opener in a 2–1 win away at Reading just three days later. His late acrobatic goal against Fulham on 22 October won the game 1–0 for Villa, making it three goals in three games and back to back wins for the club.

Kodjia started November in top form bagging two 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 season then came later in the month with a fine header in a 3–1 win over Cardiff City at Villa Park. Kodjia scored six goals in Steve Bruce's first seven games in charge and his form helped propel Villa from the relegation zone up to 11th within Bruce's first 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 beginning of the 2017–18 season.[9] He finished the season with 19 goals in 36 games in his first season.[10]

Kodja injured his ankle again in the derby match against Birmingham City in October 2017 which was further aggravated on international duty, the injury 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] playing in the final as a substitute, as Villa lost 1–0 to Fulham in the final and thus missed out on promotion to the Premier League.[13]

On 22 April 2019, Kodjia scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over Millwall which helped the club set a new record of ten successive wins. On 28 April 2019, he was injured while playing against Leeds United. 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 large confrontation between the opposing sides, which led the Leeds coach, Marcelo Bielsa, to allow Aston Villa to equalise unchallenged.[14]

Al-Gharafa

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

Umm Salal

In July 2022, Kodjia signed for fellow Qatar Stars League club Umm Salal. He made his debut on 1 August 2022, in a 1–0 defeat to Al Ahli.[17]

Annecy

On 22 August 2023, Kodjia returned to France when he joined Ligue 2 club Annecy on a free transfer.[18]

International career

Kodjia was born in France to Ivorian parents.[19] He was contacted first by the Benin Football Association as his surname has origins in that country, but was not eligible.[19] He was later called up by the Ivory Coast national team in May 2016 and made his debut in a friendly versus Hungary in a 0–0 draw.[20] He scored his first international goal against Gabon on 4 June 2016, volleying home to score the first goal of the game. Ivory Coast would go on to win 2–1.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 February 2023[22]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Reims 2008–09 Ligue 2 200000—20
2009–10 Championnat National 1300000—130
2010–11 Ligue 2 501000—60
2011–12 201010—40
Total 220201000250
Cherbourg (loan) 2011–12 Championnat National 1640000—164
Amien (loan) 2012–13 Championnat National 3490010—359
Caen B (loan) 2013–14 Championnat de France Amateur 2 20———20
Caen (loan) 2013–14 Ligue 2 2753022—327
Angers 2014–15 Ligue 2 28150010—2915
Bristol City 2015–16 Championship 45192110—4820
2016–17 400000—40
Total 49192110005220
Aston Villa 2016–17 Championship 36190000—3619
2017–18 15100003[lower-alpha 1]0181
2018–19 39910102[lower-alpha 1]0439
2019–20 Premier League 601022—92
Total 962920325010531
Al-Gharafa 2019–20 Qatar Stars League 107100000117
2020–21 201140102[lower-alpha 2]12712
Total 30185010213819
Umm Salal 2022–23 Qatar Stars League 134000000134
Annecy 2023–24 Ligue 2 2000——20
Career total 31910313110471350109

International

As of match played 30 March 2021[23]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Ivory Coast 201663
201752
201842
201994
202010
202120
Total2711
Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kodjia goal.
List of international goals scored by Jonathan Kodjia[23]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
14 June 2016Stade Bouaké, Bouaké, Ivory Coast Gabon1–02–1Friendly
23 September 2016Stade Bouaké, Bouaké, Ivory Coast Sierra Leone1–01–12017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
38 October 2016Stade Bouaké, Bouaké, Ivory Coast Mali1–13–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
411 January 2017New York University Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Uganda1–03–0Friendly
524 March 2017Krasnodar Stadium, Krasnodar, Russia Russia1–02–0Friendly
69 September 2018Stade Régional Nyamirambo, Kigali, Rwanda Rwanda1–02–12019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
712 October 2018Stade Bouaké, Bouaké, Ivory Coast Central African Republic1–04–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
826 March 2019Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast Liberia1–01–0Friendly
919 June 2019Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Zambia1–14–1Friendly
1024 June 2019Al Salam Stadium, Cairo, Egypt South Africa1–01–02019 Africa Cup of Nations
1111 July 2019Suez Stadium, Suez, Egypt Algeria1–11–12019 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

Angers

Aston Villa

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Cote d'Ivoire" (PDF). Confederation of African Football. 8 January 2017. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Jonathan Kodjia: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  3. ↑ "Jonathan Kodjia". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  4. 1 2 Doyle, Paul (22 September 2016). "People are going to be pleasantly surprised by Aston Villa". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Bristol City sign striker Jonathan Kodjia for about £2m". BBC Sport. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "Bristol City 2–4 Brentford". BBC Sport. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "Jonathan Kodjia: Aston Villa sign Bristol City striker for initial £11m fee". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  8. ↑ "Aston Villa 1–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "Aston Villa injury blow: Jonathan Kodjia to miss start of next season with broken ankle". Express. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  10. ↑ "Jonathan Kodjia | Football Stats | Aston Villa | Season 2016/2017 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  11. ↑ "Aston Villa 'fear the worst' over Jonathan Kodjia injury". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  12. ↑ "Aston Villa 0–0 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  13. ↑ "Aston Villa 0–1 Fulham". BBC Sport. 26 May 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  14. ↑ "Leeds United 1–1 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  15. ↑ "Ivorian international officially presents Jonathan Kodjia to the masses and the media". Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  16. ↑ Adewoye, Gbenga (24 January 2020). "Kodjia happy after marking Al Gharafa debut with hat-trick". Goal.com. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  17. ↑ "Umm Salal vs. Al Ahli - 1 August 2022 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  18. ↑ "Mercato : Bienvenue à Jonathan Kodjia" [Transfer market: Welcome to Jonathan Kodjia]. www.fc-annecy.fr (in French). 22 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  19. 1 2 "Jonathan Kodjia: 'People are going to be pleasantly surprised by Aston Villa'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  20. ↑ "Friendlies 2014-16 - Matches - by month – UEFA.com". Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  21. ↑ "Côte d'Ivoire vs. Gabon – 4 June 2016". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  22. ↑ Jonathan Kodjia at Soccerway
  23. 1 2 "Jonathan Kodjia". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  24. ↑ Woodcock, Ian (27 May 2019). "Aston Villa 2–1 Derby County". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
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