Jonathan Kodjia

Jonathan Kodjia

Personal information
Full name	Jonathan Adjo Kodjia [1]
Date of birth	(1989-10-22) 22 October 1989 (age 35) [2]
Place of birth	Saint-Denis, France
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) [2]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Versailles
Number	26
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)
2023–2024	Annecy	10	(0)
2024–	Versailles	0	(0)
International career‡
2016–	Ivory Coast	27	(11)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 April 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 Championnat National club Versailles. Born in France, he represents the Ivory Coast national team.

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.^{[ citation needed ]}

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 during the penultimate game of the season, which would see him miss the final game of the season and 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]

Versailles

In August 2024, Kodjia signed for Championnat National club Versailles. ^[19]

International career

Kodjia was born in France to Ivorian parents. ^[20] He was contacted first by the Benin Football Association as his surname has origins in that country, but was not eligible. ^[20] 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. ^[21] 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. ^[22]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 17 February 2024 ^[23]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Reims	2008–09	Ligue 2	2	0	0	0	0	0	—		2	0
	2009–10	Championnat National	13	0	0	0	0	0	—		13	0
	2010–11	Ligue 2	5	0	1	0	0	0	—		6	0
	2011–12		2	0	1	0	1	0	—		4	0
	Total		22	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	25	0
Cherbourg (loan)	2011–12	Championnat National	16	4	0	0	0	0	—		16	4
Amien (loan)	2012–13	Championnat National	34	9	0	0	1	0	—		35	9
Caen B (loan)	2013–14	Championnat de France Amateur 2	2	0	—		—		—		2	0
Caen (loan)	2013–14	Ligue 2	27	5	3	0	2	2	—		32	7
Angers	2014–15	Ligue 2	28	15	0	0	1	0	—		29	15
Bristol City	2015–16	Championship	45	19	2	1	1	0	—		48	20
	2016–17		4	0	0	0	0	0	—		4	0
	Total		49	19	2	1	1	0	0	0	52	20
Aston Villa	2016–17	Championship	36	19	0	0	0	0	—		36	19
	2017–18		15	1	0	0	0	0	3 [a]	0	18	1
	2018–19		39	9	1	0	1	0	2 [a]	0	43	9
	2019–20	Premier League	6	0	1	0	2	2	—		9	2
	Total		96	29	2	0	3	2	5	0	105	31
Al-Gharafa	2019–20	Qatar Stars League	10	7	1	0	0	0	0	0	11	7
	2020–21		20	11	4	0	1	0	2 [b]	1	27	12
	Total		30	18	5	0	1	0	2	1	38	19
Umm Salal	2022–23	Qatar Stars League	13	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	4
Annecy	2023–24	Ligue 2	10	0	1	0	—		—		11	0
Career total			327	103	14	1	10	4	7	1	359	109

1. Appearances in EFL Championship play-offs
2. Appearances in Emir of Qatar Cup

International

As of match played 30 March 2021 ^[24]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Ivory Coast	2016	6	3
	2017	5	2
	2018	4	2
	2019	9	4
	2020	1	0
	2021	2	0
Total		27	11

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 ^[24]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	4 June 2016	Stade Bouaké, Bouaké, Ivory Coast	Gabon	1–0	2–1	Friendly
2	3 September 2016	Stade Bouaké, Bouaké, Ivory Coast	Sierra Leone	1–0	1–1	2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3	8 October 2016	Stade Bouaké, Bouaké, Ivory Coast	Mali	1–1	3–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	11 January 2017	New York University Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Uganda	1–0	3–0	Friendly
5	24 March 2017	Krasnodar Stadium, Krasnodar, Russia	Russia	1–0	2–0	Friendly
6	9 September 2018	Stade Régional Nyamirambo, Kigali, Rwanda	Rwanda	1–0	2–1	2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
7	12 October 2018	Stade Bouaké, Bouaké, Ivory Coast	Central African Republic	1–0	4–0	2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
8	26 March 2019	Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast	Liberia	1–0	1–0	Friendly
9	19 June 2019	Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Zambia	1–1	4–1	Friendly
10	24 June 2019	Al Salam Stadium, Cairo, Egypt	South Africa	1–0	1–0	2019 Africa Cup of Nations
11	11 July 2019	Suez Stadium, Suez, Egypt	Algeria	1–1	1–1	2019 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

Angers

• Ligue 2 third-place promotion: 2014–15 ^{[ citation needed ]}

Aston Villa

• EFL Championship play-offs: 2019 ^[25]

Individual

• Ligue 2 Player of the Year: 2015^{[ citation needed ]}
• Ligue 2 Team of the Season: 2014–15^{[ citation needed ]}
• EFL Championship PFA Player of the Month: November 2016^{[ citation needed ]}

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. "Jonathan Kodjia: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
3. "Jonathan Kodjia". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
4. Doyle, Paul (22 September 2016). "People are going to be pleasantly surprised by Aston Villa". The Guardian . Retrieved 30 June 2019.
5. "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. @FCVersaillesOff (15 August 2024). "Jonathan Kodjia est 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐬. 🔵⚪ Passé par le championnat anglais et la Ligue 2 dont il termine meilleur joueur en 2015, il apportera à l'équipe son expérience du haut niveau, son leadership et ses qualités de finisseur. Jonathan portera le numéro 26 et s'est engagé pour une saison, avec une option pour une seconde année" [Jonathan Kodjia is 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐬 . 🔵⚪ Having played in the English championship and Ligue 2, where he finished as best player in 2015, he will bring his high-level experience, his leadership and his finishing skills to the team. Jonathan will wear number 26 and has signed for one season, with an option for a second year.] (Tweet). Retrieved 15 August 2024– via Twitter.
20. "Jonathan Kodjia: 'People are going to be pleasantly surprised by Aston Villa'". The Guardian . Retrieved 9 October 2016.
21. "Friendlies 2014–16 – Matches – by month – UEFA.com". Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
22. "Côte d'Ivoire vs. Gabon – 4 June 2016". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
23. Jonathan Kodjia at Soccerway
24. "Jonathan Kodjia". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
25. Woodcock, Ian (27 May 2019). "Aston Villa 2–1 Derby County". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2019.

External links

• Jonathan Kodjia at Soccerway
• Jonathan Kodjia at L'Équipe Football (in French)
• Jonathan Kodjia at Foot-National.com
• Jonathan Kodjia – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)