Who is Jean-Matteo Bahoya? The late Leeds United transfer target as fast as Usain Bolt — YEP 1/9/26

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By Kyle Newbould

Leeds United are making a late push for the speedy Eintracht Frankfurt winger.

Leeds United have made a late push to sign speedy winger Jean-Matteo Bahoya this transfer deadline day.

The Whites have so far fallen short in their pursuit of a winger, most recently seeing Mykhailo Mudryk decide to join Tottenham Hotspur on loan. There are just five hours of the transfer window remaining and focus has now turned to Eintracht Frankfurt’s Bahoya.

The 21-year-old has been the subject of interest from Sunderland and Hull City this summer and is now on Leeds’ radar. Below, the YEP has everything you need to know on the Whites target.

Who is Jean-Matteo Bahoya?

Bahoya is a 21-year-old French youth international who currently plays on the left wing for Frankfurt. Born on the outskirts of Paris, his professional career began at the reserve side of French club Angers.

After nine appearances for the reserves, Bahoya signed a professional contract in 2022 and then made his first-team debut against Strasbourg in January 2023. The winger spent two seasons across Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, scoring five goals in 19 appearances during his second-tier spell.

That was enough for Frankfurt to snap up a young Bahoya, signing him to a five-and-a-half-year contract in January 2024 for around £6m. In 59 Bundesliga appearances, the Leeds target has registered five goals and seven assists.

He is also a French youth international, having represented his nation at Under-18, Under-19 and currently Under-21 level. He’s scored one goal in five appearances for the latter age group.

What kind of player is Jean-Matteo Bahoya?

The 21-year-old is still quite raw but viewed as an incredibly exciting young prospect, known best for his blistering pace. Famously while playing for Frankfurt against Bochum in 2025, he clocked the fastest sprint speed in Bundesliga history after topping out at 23.09mph.

For reference, that is about as fast as Usain Bolt’s average speed of 23.35mph during his 100m world-record sprint at the 2009 World Championships. He recorded that speed at just 19 years old too.

As well as being incredibly fast, Bahoya is also a fantastic dribbler who according to FotMob, averaged 2.78 successful dribbles per 90 minutes at a success rate of 59.4 per cent in the Bundesliga last season. For reference, positional peer Noah Okafor averaged 2.24 successful dribbles at a success rate of 42.4 per cent, albeit in the more difficult Premier League.

Bahoya also creates chances at an impressive rate, averaging 2.1 with 0.41 big chances per 90 minutes. Okafor averages 1.15 chances created and 0.23 big chances - again with the caveat of the Premier League being a more difficult league.

One potential area of improvement for Bahoya surrounds his end-product, which is to be expected of such a young and raw talent. That is perhaps highlighted by the fact he can beat defenders so often but scored just three goals last season - but the youngster has huge potential and should a deal go through, would provide solid competition for Okafor.

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