| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eric-Junior Doriane Magate Kom Baga Bocat [1] [2] | ||
| Date of birth | 16 July 1999 [2] | ||
| Place of birth | Paris, France [2] | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) [2] | ||
| Position(s) | Left-back [3] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Stoke City | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2014 | Val d'Europe | ||
| 2015–2017 | US Torcy | ||
| 2017–2018 | Dijon | ||
| 2018–2019 | Brest | ||
| 2019–2020 | Lille | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2018 | Dijon B | 11 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Brest B | 24 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | Lille B | 20 | (0) |
| 2020 | Lille | 0 | (0) |
| 2020–2022 | Mouscron | 33 | (1) |
| 2022–2024 | Sint-Truiden | 59 | (2) |
| 2024– | Stoke City | 34 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19:22, 13 September 2025 (UTC) | |||
Eric Junior Bocat (born 16 July 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a left-back for EFL Championship club Stoke City.
Bocat was born in Paris and began playing football with youth teams Val d'Europe and US Torcy in Seine-et-Marne before joining the Dijon academy. He made eleven appearances for Dijon's B team in 2017–18 and 24 appearances for Brest's B team in 2018–19 before he joined Lille in August 2019. [4] Bocat played for Lille's B team 20 times in the Championnat National 2 during the 2019–20 campaign and made his senior debut in a Coupe de France round of 16 tie against SAS Épinal which ended in a shock 2–1 defeat. [5]
Bocat left Lille on 1 August 2020 and signed for Belgian top flight club Mouscron. [6] He only made nine appearances in 2020–21 as Mouscron suffered relegation to the First Division B amid severe financial problems. [2] He was a regular in 2021–22, playing 27 times as Mouscron's situation worsened and they were declared bankrupt at the end of the season. [7]
After two seasons at Mouscron, Bocat signed for Belgian Pro League side Sint-Truiden in July 2022. [8] In his first season at Stayen, Bocat made 25 appearances as Sint-Truiden finished in a mid-table position of 12th. In 2023–24, Bocat only missed three games as the team had a decent campaign, finishing ninth and competed in the European play-offs. [9]
On 26 June 2024, Bocat joined English Championship side Stoke City for an undisclosed fee, [10] [11] reported to be around €1.5 million, plus €500,000 in add-ons, [12] signing a four-year deal. [10] [11] Following the announcement of the transfer it was revealed that they had looked into signing the defender the previous transfer window, instead using the budget to prioritise the signing of a forward player, Million Manhoef. [13] Bocat had a stop-start first season in English football, making 34 appearances in 2024–25, as Stoke avoided relegation on the final day. [14] [15] [16]
Born in France, Bocat is of Central African and Senegalese descent. [17]
| Club | Season | League | National cup [a] | League cup [b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dijon B | 2017–18 [2] | Championnat National 3 | 11 | 0 | — | — | — | 11 | 0 | |||
| Brest B | 2018–19 [2] | Championnat National 3 | 24 | 0 | — | — | — | 24 | 0 | |||
| Lille B | 2019–20 [2] | Championnat National 2 | 20 | 0 | — | — | — | 20 | 0 | |||
| Lille | 2019–20 [2] | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mouscron | 2020–21 [2] | Belgian First Division A | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 [2] | Belgian First Division B | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 1 | |||
| Total | 33 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 1 | ||||
| Sint-Truiden | 2022–23 [2] | Belgian Pro League | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 [2] | Belgian Pro League | 37 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 2 | |||
| Total | 59 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 63 | 2 | ||||
| Stoke City | 2024–25 [2] | Championship | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 34 | 0 | |
| 2025–26 [2] | Championship | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 40 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 181 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 195 | 3 | ||