Playing in France with
Montpellier, Bakayoko was rated highly enough by
Everton manager
Walter Smith that Smith was willing to pay
£4.5 million for Bakayoko's services in October 1998. However, he failed to impress in the 23 games he played, only finding the net four times in the league (seven times in all competitions). A brief highlight was scoring twice as Everton beat
Blackburn Rovers 2–1 at
Ewood Park. He was sold for £4 million in June 1999 to
Marseille. A spell in Spain with
Osasuna followed, before Bakayoko returned for a third spell in France, this time representing
Istres, before he moved over the Alps to Italy, first with
Livorno and then with
Messina. On 28 January 2007, he played his first
Serie A match for Messina against
Ascoli. In the summer of 2007, he joined Greek SuperLeague outfit
AEL. On 20 September 2007, he scored from 30 yards for his new side in the
UEFA Cup first round first leg against English
Premier League side
Blackburn. On 19 June 2008, he joined
PAOK for a year. After his contract expired, Bakayoko signed a two-year contract for newly promoted
PAS Giannina on 27 July 2009. ==International career==