 Thiam withEsteghlal in 2018 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mame Baba Thiam | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1992-10-09)9 October 1992 (age 33) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Nguidile,Senegal | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Eyüpspor | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Real San Marco | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Treviso | ||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Inter Milan | ||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | →Sassuolo (loan) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Sassuolo | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Inter Milan | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Inter Milan | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | →Avellino (loan) | 26 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | →Südtirol (loan) | 27 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Lanciano | 22 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2017 | Juventus | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | →Lanciano (loan) | 34 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | →Zulte Waregem (loan) | 28 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | →PAOK (loan) | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | →Empoli (loan) | 15 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Esteghlal | 6 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Ajman | 26 | (13) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Kasımpaşa | 25 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Fenerbahçe | 30 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2024 | Kayserispor | 70 | (32) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Pendikspor | 17 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Eyüpspor | 40 | (17) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | Senegal | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 27 October 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 14 January 2022 | |||||||||||||||||
Mame Baba Thiam (born 9 October 1992) is a Senegalese professionalfootballer who plays as aforward for TurkishSüper Lig clubEyüpspor and theSenegal national team.
Born inNguidile,[2]Louga Region,[3] Thiam left for Italy at young age. He was selected to Veneto regionAllievi team forCoppa Nazionale Primavera, a competition against other Italy regional representatives in 2007–08 season.[4] At club level he played forReal San Marco, fromChirignago [it], mainland area ofVenice municipality.[5] In 2008, he was signed by Veneto clubTreviso.[6] In January 2009 he was signed byInternazionale from Treviso along withSamuel Longo.[7] He immediately entered Inter'sAllievi Nazionali under-17 team,[8] scoring 4 goals in regular season (group stage).[9] Due toInter'sPrimavera under-20 team had many strikers, namelyDenis Alibec,Mattia Destro,Simone Dell'Agnello, Giuseppe Angarano and Longo, Thiam left forSassuolo'sPrimavera team in August 2009. TheEmilia-Romagna side also borrowedAlberto Gallinetta and kept numbers of former Inter players by extended the loans or excised the option to sign outright from Inter, such asPellegrino Albanese, Raffaele Conforto andGiorgio Schiavini. Thiam was the starting forward along withDiego Falcinelli,[10][11][12][13] who also from Inter academy. However the coach also used other formation and preferred Falcinelli as sole centre forward[14] despite Thiam also played that role few time.[15] That season Thiam scored 4 times.[16]
During the season, Inter formed a complex deal with Sassuolo, which allowed Thiam to join Sassuolo for free in January 2010 (Inter registered a loss of €71,000),[17] then Thiam re-joined Inter on 30 August[18] inco-ownership deal, with Thiam's contract treated as a financial asset in Sassuolo's account and anintangible asset in Inter account, as well as the "parent" club of the co-ownership contract became Sassuolo instead of Inter. With InterPrimavera team, he scored 4 goals in the regular season, behind strikers Dell'Agnello, Alibec and midfielderMilan Jirásek.[19] He also won2011 Torneo di Viareggio with the reserves.[20]
On 30 August 2011, he left forAvellino fromInter Milan.[21] He made his professional debut on 25 September againstViareggio as a substitute forGianluca De Angelis.[22] He made his first start in the following game againstSorrento. He played the successive game, scoring on 13, 16 and 30 October (round 7, 8 and 10), partnering Zigoni,Fabrizio Lasagna and De Angelis respectively. However, after a goal drought Thiam lost the starting place, and became the backup of De Angelis and Zigoni. He returned to starting XI again on 7 March 2012, partnering Zigoni. In June 2012 Inter also acquired Thiam outright, as Sassuolo gave up their 50% registration rights of Thiam.
On 12 July 2012, Thiam moved to another third level club,South Tyrol (German:Südtirol,Italian:Alto Adige).[23]
On 15 July 2013, Thiam joined Serie B clubLanciano on a free transfer.[24] On 30 January 2014, Lanciano signed goalkeeperLaurențiu Brănescu in a co-ownership deal for €250,000 cash plus 50% registration rights of Thiam (50% "card" of Thiam was valued at €1.4 million; 50% "card" of Brănescu was valued €1.65 million).[25][26] Thiam signed a4+1⁄2-year contract withThe Old Lady.
Thiam spent the rest of the 2013–14 season in Lanciano. He continues in Lanciano in the 2014–2015 season. In June 2015 Juventus signed Thiam outright for another €800,000;[27][28] on 8 July Lanciano signedFilippo Penna (about €340,000) andMarco Di Benedetto (undisclosed) as compensations.[29]
On 26 July 2015, Thiam signed withZulte Waregem in a temporary deal.[30] The move made Juventus had a signing quota for non-European Union nationals (another quota was fromCarlos Tevez[31]), which the club later signedAlex Sandro, who counted as a non-EU.[32]
After the loan Thiam returned to Juventus for their pre-season camp.[33]
On 31 August 2016, Thiam joinedPAOK on loan.[34]
On 13 January 2017, Thiam signed withEmpoli in a temporary deal.[35] He scored a goal againstA.C. Milan on 23 April 2017, giving Empoli a crucial 3-points for their battle from relegation. He also played in the last round of the season, which Empoli relegated by losing to already relegatedPalermo.
After the loan, Thiam returned to Turin once again for their pre-season camp.[36] It was reported that he canceled the contract with Juventus in a mutual consent in September 2017.[37]
On 6 February 2018, Thiam signed a1+1⁄2-year contract withEsteghlal after he passed the medical examination.[38] He was assigned the number 25 shirt to wear in theleague, however he chose to wear his favourite number 7 in theAFC Champions League as it was vacant.[39]
Thiam made his debut on 8 February in a 3–0 victory againstSepidrood coming on as a substitute forAli Ghorbani in the 82nd minute.[40] He started his first match for Esteghlal in theChampions League match againstAl-Hilal in which he his first goal for the club.[41] The goal was Esteghlal's 200th goal in AFC Champions League history and they became the first Iranian team to reach that milestone.[42] Esteghlal eventually won 1–0 and Thiam was named Man of the Match for his performance.[43][44] On 24 February, Thiam opened his scoring account in the league with a brace in a 4–1 away victory againstFoolad. He also provided an assist for another goal in that match.[45] On 6 March, he scored another brace in a 2–2 champions league draw againstAl-Ain,[46] and was named "Man of the match" for the second consecutive time.[47] On 3 May, Thiam scored Esteghlal's only goal to defeatKhooneh be Khooneh 1–0 in the2018 Hazfi Cup Final, winning his first piece of silverware with the club.[48] On 15 May, he scored his first hat-trick in a 3–1 win overZob Ahan.[49] His three goals saw him become the club's all-time foreign leading goalscorer, overtakingJlloyd Samuel's record of 11 goals on the day of his death.[50] Due to his performance, he was named round of 16's second leg player of the week and was included in the round of 16's team of the week.[51][52][53] Thiam finished his season with twelve goals in all competitions in 13 appearances, the club finished 3rd in the league that season.
On 8 August 2018, Thiam joined UAE teamAjman from Esteghlal FC on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee.[54][55] Thiam made his debut for the club on 30 August, in a 1–0 league victory overAl-Nasr in which he scored his first goal for the club.[56]
On 24 June 2019, Thiam joined TurkishSüper Lig sideKasımpaşa on a two-year contract.[57] He made his debut for the club on 18 August againstTrabzonspor.[58] In the next match, he scored his first for the club in a 4–1 defeat againstAlanyaspor.[59]
On 18 August 2020, Thiam joined fellowSüper Lig clubFenerbahçe on a three-year contract.[60]
In the summer of 2021 theAfrican footballer signed forCentral Anatolian sideKayserispor on a three-year contract.[61]
Thiam first represented theSenegal national team in a friendly 3–1 loss toMorocco on 9 October 2020.[62]
He was part ofSenegal's squad for the2021 Africa Cup of Nations; the Lions of Teranga went on to win the tournament for the first time in their history.[63][64]
Thiam was appointed aGrand Officer of the National Order of the Lion byPresident of SenegalMacky Sall following the nation's victory at the tournament.[65]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Avellino | 2011–12 | Lega Pro | 26 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 26 | 4 | |
| Südtirol | 2012–13 | Lega Pro | 29 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 30 | 6 | |
| Virtus Lanciano | 2013–14 | Serie B | 22 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 23 | 3 | |
| 2014–15 | Serie B | 34 | 8 | 2 | 1 | — | 36 | 9 | ||
| Total | 56 | 11 | 3 | 1 | — | 59 | 12 | |||
| Zulte Waregem | 2015–16 | Belgian Pro League | 28 | 9 | 1 | 0 | — | 29 | 9 | |
| PAOK | 2016–17 | Super League Greece | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5[b] | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Empoli | 2016–17 | Serie A | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 1 | |
| Esteghlal | 2017–18 | Persian Gulf Pro League | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6[c] | 7 | 13 | 12 |
| Ajman | 2018–19 | UAE Pro-League | 26 | 13 | 4 | 0 | — | 30 | 13 | |
| Kasımpaşa | 2019–20 | Süper Lig | 25 | 11 | 3 | 1 | — | 28 | 12 | |
| Fenerbahçe | 2020–21 | Süper Lig | 30 | 6 | 4 | 2 | — | 34 | 8 | |
| Kayserispor | 2021–22 | Süper Lig | 24 | 11 | 3 | 1 | — | 27 | 12 | |
| 2022–23 | Süper Lig | 27 | 9 | 3 | 0 | — | 30 | 9 | ||
| 2023–24 | Süper Lig | 19 | 12 | 0 | 0 | — | 19 | 12 | ||
| Career total | 70 | 32 | 6 | 1 | – | 76 | 33 | |||
| Pendikspor | 2023–24 | Süper Lig | 17 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 18 | 6 | |
| Eyüpspor | 2024–25 | Süper Lig | 19 | 12 | 2 | 1 | — | 21 | 13 | |
| Career total | 349 | 113 | 28 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 388 | 127 | ||
Esteghlal
Senegal
Individual
 | ||
