An in-depth look into our 10th summer recruit, Chris Bedia…
Born in Abidjan, the former capital and biggest city in Côte d’Ivoire, Chris Bedia began his youth career with Ligue 2 side Tours FC. First breaking onto the scene in 2013 with Tours' B team, his first team debut came in September 2014 as a second-half substitute, playing 24 minutes in a narrow 1-0 away defeat against AC Arles-Avignon in Ligue 2.
Featuring in eight consecutive first-team league matches in September and October, Bedia’s ninth and final appearance of his breakout season came in the final Ligue 2 game of the campaign in May 2015. Despite playing only nine minutes, Bedia scored his first senior goal in a 4-1 victory away at US Créteil-Lusitanos.
The 2015/16 campaign saw Bedia return primarily to the B team until February 2016, when he featured in the final 11 Ligue 2 games. Scoring in his third appearance, in a 1-1 draw against State Lavallois, the forward scored a brace on his first senior start in a 2-1 home victory over State Brestois 29. Recording an assist for the only goal of the game against Clermont Foot and scoring against league leaders AS Nancy, Bedia transferred to Royal Chareroi SC at the end of the 2015/16 season. At Tours, he scored five goals in 20 first-team appearances, netting an impressive 16 in 39 league appearances for the B team.
Making his debut in Belgium in July 2016 in a 1-0 win over Waaslan-Beveren in the Jupiler Pro League, Bedia started the season strongly. In just over two months, the striker netted consecutively in three games against KV Oostende, Zulte Waregem and Club Brugge. Netting against the latter again in the Pro League play-offs, the forward scored six goals and recorded three assists in 38 appearances across all competitions in his debut season at Charleroi.
After a less impactful second season, scoring only twice and recording two assists in 32 outings, Bedia featured a further two times for Charleroi at the start of the 2018/19 season before making the loan switch to Zulte Waregem in August 2018. Making his debut against Cercle Brugge later in the month, Bedia failed to score in 17 outings for the club.
Returning to Charleroi and featuring three times in the Belgian Pro League, the 28-year-old returned to France in August 2019 when joining Troyes on loan for the 2019/20 campaign. Recording an assist on debut 10 days after signing in a 2-0 win over RC Lens, the striker helped the club record four straight wins in Ligue 2, scoring a 92nd-minute winner over AJ Auxerre in the fourth win. Netting in wins over FC Sochaux and again over Auxerre, the forward returned to Belgium after scoring three goals and recording one assist in 23 appearances.
Bedia remained in France for the 2020/21 season as he joined Sochaux in August 2020. Making his debut for the Lions Cubs in a 2-0 win over Auxerre four days after joining, Bedia scored his first goal for the club in only his fourth appearance, converting his spot-kick in a 2-2 comeback against Rodez AF.
Scoring a brace in a 4-0 thrashing over Le Havre AC two months later, the second half of the season saw Bedia net six Ligue 2 goals in 2021 and three goals across three appearances in the Coupe de France, scoring the winner in the third round over Saint-Étienne and a brace in a 4-2 loss over Olympique Lyon.
After netting 12 goals and recording two assists in 38 appearances for Sochaux, the 28-year-old scored on his return to Charleroi in a 3-0 win over KV Oostende in July 2021. Featuring 10 times in total for Charleroi in the first half of the 2021/22 season, Bedia left the club permanently after 85 appearances to sign a two-and-a-half-year deal for Swiss Super League side Servette in January 2022 for an undisclosed fee.
Making his debut against FC St Gallen, Bedia scored on his home debut in a 1-1 draw against FC Luzern. Netting twice in the final three games of the season in draws against FC Lugano and FC Sion, the striker created a good foundation with three goals in 14 appearances ahead of his first full season with the club.
Recording the assist in a 1-0 win over St Gallen on the opening day of the 2022/23 season, Bedia missed August to January due to injury, but scored a brace on his comeback in January 2023 in a 2-2 league draw against FC Sion. Following his return, Bedia secured further braces over Grasshoppers and FC Zürich, along with a host of other goals that took his tally to 12 goals and three assists in 25 appearances in total, with the club reaching the semi-finals of the Swiss Cup and achieving European football after finishing second in the league, behind BSC Young Boys, where fellow City summer signing Anthony Racioppi won the title.
His impressive form continued into the start of last season. Scoring three goals and recording one assist in the opening two league fixtures against Grasshoppers and FC Zürich, the striker then scored in the second round qualifying second leg penalty shootout win over KRC Genk in the Champions League. Despite netting against Rangers in the following round at Ibrox, Servette dropped into the Europa League after losing to Rangers over two legs in the Champions League.
A consistent goalscorer for the Swiss side, scoring two goals in the Europa League group stages against FC Sheriff and AS Roma, Bedia scored 16 goals and recorded three assists in 29 appearances in the first half of the season. Two of those appearances came in the Swiss Cup, scoring in both the second round against FC Bulle and round of 16 against Stade-Lausanne, with Servette later winning the competition.
In January 2024, the 28-year-old moved to the Bundesliga to play for Union Berlin after 31 goals in 68 appearances for Servette. Making his debut against Bayern Munich as a substitute six days after joining, Bedia was in and out of the team, only making seven appearances. However, he did score once in the German top flight, scoring in a narrow 4-3 loss against VfL Bochum.
Internationally, Bedia has represented Ivory Coast at Under-17s, Under-20s and Under-23s levels, all under the coach Ibrahima Kamara. Featuring four times at the Under-17 2013 World Cup, Bedia also helped his nation win the 2013 Under-17 Africa Cup.
Featuring for the Under-20s in March 2015, he earned three caps at the Under-20 Africa Cup, scoring in draws against Senegal and Nigeria. Featuring twice at Under-23 level, playing once against England in a 2-1 win for the Three Lions in May 2015, Bedia has been an unused substitute twice for the senior side, being on the bench for friendly games against Burkina Faso and Ghana in June 2021.