Ballou Tabla

Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla (born 31 March 1999) is a Canadian professional footballer who plays as a winger for CF Montréal.

Ballou Tabla
Personal information
Full name Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla[1]
Date of birth (1999-03-31) 31 March 1999
Place of birth Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 CF Montréal
Number 17
Youth career
2012–2013 Montreal Impact
2013–2015 Panellinios
2015 Montreal Impact
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016 FC Montreal 21 (5)
2017 Montreal Impact 21 (2)
2018–2020 Barcelona B 30 (3)
2019 → Albacete (loan) 2 (0)
2019 → Montreal Impact (loan) 4 (0)
2020– CF Montréal[lower-alpha 1] 5 (1)
National team‡
2014–2015 Canada U17 5 (1)
2016–2018 Canada U20 7 (1)
2018– Canada 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 November 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2018

Early life

Tabla was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on 31 March 1999, and he moved as a child to Canada.[2] He was raised in Quebec.[3]

Club career

Early career

Tabla first joined the Montreal Impact Academy in 2012. On 9 December 2013, he left the club to join local amateur team CS Panellinios. In April 2015, he returned to the Impact as part of the team's U18 side which finished the 2014/15 U.S. Soccer Development Academy in first place in the overall standings.[4] He also played for Jets Pointe-aux-Trembles, another local amateur team.[2]

FC Montreal

On 10 November 2015, it was announced that Tabla had signed for FC Montreal, the second team of the Impact which competed in the United Soccer League, the second tier of the Canadian soccer league system.[4] He made his professional debut on 9 April 2016 and scored his first professional goal as Montreal fell 1–2 to Toronto FC II.[5] While with FC Montreal, Tabla regularly trained with the first team which included fellow Ivorian Didier Drogba.[6] In February 2016, Tabla and three of his teammates had a training stint with Bologna F.C. 1909 of Serie A.[7]

In April 2016, it was revealed that Tabla was being eyed by numerous big teams in Europe including Premier League clubs Arsenal, Manchester City, and Chelsea, along with F.C Barcelona. He was first spotted by scouts during a U20 match in March 2016 in which Canada beat England by a score of 2–1. It was also revealed that several European clubs had inquired about taking the player in on a trial.[6]

Montreal Impact

On 20 October 2016, the Montreal Impact announced they had signed Tabla to a two-year contract as a Homegrown Player, which would begin in the 2017 season.[8][9]

On 8 August 2017, the Montreal Gazette reported that Tabla "missed practice Tuesday as the MLS team confirmed it has received a transfer offer for the 18-year-old from a second-division European club."[10] The next day Tabla issued an apology through Twitter.[11][12]

Barcelona B

On 25 January 2018, Tabla signed with FC Barcelona B on an initial three-year deal, with an optional two-year extension. His buyout clause was set at €25 million for the first three years, which would rise to €75 million if his contract option is picked up.[13]

On 31 January 2019, Tabla joined Segunda División side Albacete Balompié on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season.[14]

Return to Montreal Impact

Tabla returned to Montreal on loan through to the end of the 2019 MLS season on August 7, 2019.[15] In January 2020, Tabla signed with Montreal on a permanent transfer.[16]

International career

Tabla was 14 years old when he first participated in a national camp. He has represented Canada at the U15, U17, U18, and U20 levels.[3] He was named to Canada's squad for the 2015 CONCACAF U-17 Championship.[17] In 2014, he was named the Canada U17 Male Player of the Year.[18] In August 2016, Tabla was called up to the U-20 team for a pair of friendlies against Costa Rica[19] In 2016, he was named the Canada U-20 Male Player of the Year for his performances with the U-20 squad in friendlies against England and Honduras.[20]

He later refused call-ups to Canada, citing a possibility to play for the Ivory Coast.[21] It was reported that he sought advice from Didier Drogba, a former Ivory Coast striker with whom he struck a friendship during their time in Montreal.[22] In September 2018, Tabla declared his international allegiance to Canada.[23]

On 17 October 2018, Tabla made his senior national team debut, in a 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League qualification match against Dominica. Tabla replaced Jonathan David in the 54th minute.[24]

Tabla was named to the Canadian U-23 provisional roster for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship on February 26, 2020.[25]

Career statistics

Club
As of 11 November 2020[26]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
FC Montreal 2016 USL 2150000–215
Montreal Impact 2017 MLS 21200003[lower-alpha 2]1243
Barcelona B 2017–18 Segunda Division 12100–––121
2018–19 Segunda División B 18200––1[lower-alpha 3]0192
Total 303000010313
Albacete (loan) 2018–19 Segunda División 2000––20
Montreal Impact (loan) 2019 MLS 400000–40
Montreal Impact 2020 MLS 510020–71
Career total 83110020418912
  1. Montreal Impact changed its name to CF Montréal in 2021
  2. Three appearances in the Canadian Championship
  3. One appearances in the Copa Catalunya

International
As of 18 November 2018[27]
Canada
YearAppsGoals
201820
Total20

Honours

Club

Barcelona

Individual

References
  1. "40-Player National Team Roster: 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup: Canada" (PDF). CONCACAF. p. 2. Retrieved 20 May 2019 – via Bernews.
  2. "Biographie". Self. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  3. "CSA Profile". Canada Soccer. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  4. "Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla joins FC Montreal". Montreal Impact. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  5. "USL Profile". United Soccer League. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  6. O'ROURKE, Peter. "Impact's Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla eyed by Premier League clubs - source". ESPN FC. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  7. "Four players from FC Montreal in Bologna for a training camp". Montreal Impact. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  8. Montreal Impact (20 October 2016). "Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla signs MLS contract with Impact".
  9. Oliver Tremblay (20 October 2016). "Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla with the first team: the reactions". Montreal Impact.
  10. Press, The Canadian. "Montreal Impact midfielder Ballou Tabla misses practice amid transfer dispute". www.montrealgazette.com. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  11. "Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla sorry for skipping Montreal training in transfer push". ESPNFC.com. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  12. Tabla, Ballou (9 August 2017). "pic.twitter.com/ESlxtTGAqY". @balloutabla. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  13. "Agreement with Montreal Impact for transfer of Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla". fcbarcelona.com. FC Barcelona. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  14. "Ballou se pone la camiseta del Alba" [Ballou puts the shirt of Alba]. Albacete Balompié (in Spanish). 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  15. Bogert, Tom (7 August 2019). "Ballou Tabla heads back to Montreal Impact on loan from Barcelona B".
  16. Bogert, Tom (15 January 2020). "Montreal Impact acquire Ballou Tabla from Barcelona in permanent transfer".
  17. "Canada M17 squad selected for CONCACAF U-17 Championship". Canada Soccer. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  18. "QUEBEC JEAN-YVES BALLOU TABLA PLAYER NAMED CANADIAN U17 MEN OF THE YEAR IN CANADA". Federation de Soccer de Quebec. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  19. "Canada m20 announces squad and matches against Costa Rica". Canada Soccer Association. 24 August 2016.
  20. Canada Soccer Association (14 December 2016). "Tabla and Fleming win 2016 Canadian U-20 Players of the Year". Canada Soccer Association.
  21. Marsden, Sam (27 March 2018). "Barcelona's Ballou Tabla torn between choosing Canada, Ivory Coast". ESPN. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  22. Taiwo, Taiye (28 March 2018). "Barcelona's Ballou Tabla undecided on Cote d'Ivoire future". Goal. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  23. "Ballou a choisi de représenter le Canada". Réseau des sports (in French). 25 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  24. West, Phil (17 October 2018). "Canada 5, Dominica 0: 2018-19 Concacaf Nations League Qualifier". MLSSoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved 18 October 2018. The outcome of the match was never in doubt, with three goals in the first 18 minutes making sure of that. For Canadian fans, the moment that might have counted most was Ballou Yves-Jean Tabla coming on for his first international action. The 19-year-old Montreal Impact Homegrown, now at FC Barcelona B, showed promise in his initial run-out for the red and white.
  25. "Canada Soccer announces Provisional List for Concacaf Men's Olympic Qualifying". Canada Soccer. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  26. Ballou Tabla at Soccerway
  27. "Ballou Tabla profile". Canada Soccer. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  28. "Chelsea 0–3 Barcelona". UEFA.com. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
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