Jonathan Kodjia

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Seasons

Age*

Division

Appearances

Starts

Substitute

Unused

Goals

From

Played Under

Roberto Di Matteo |
Steve Bruce |
Dean Smith |

First Squad Appearance

Debut Appearance

First Goal

Wednesday, 14 September 2016

Final Appearance

Saturday, 4 January 2020

Fulham (a), FA Cup

Final Squad Appearance

Saturday, 4 January 2020

Jonathan Kodjia

Player #900 for Aston Villa, Jonathan Kodjia played as a centre forward for the club between 2016-17 and 2019-20 making 106 appearances and scoring 30 goals.

Jonathan was born in Saint-Denis on 22 October 1989

Roberto Di Matteo had signed Kodjia from Bristol City for a fee of £11,610,000 on 30 August 2016 and his arrival was one of a number of notable Villa signings that the maligned and brief Di Matteo management team oversaw including Tommy Elphick, James Chester, Mile Jedinak and Albert Adomah.

Kodjia made his debut appearance for Villa on Sunday, 11 September 2016 aged 26 in the Championship draw with Nottingham Forest and he would go on to

Although Di Matteo’s regime was short-lived, his transfer legacy was not. Kodjia scored in his second appearance in yet another draw, this time with Brentford, on Wednesday, 14 September 2016. Indeed by the time Kodjia was on the winning side, Villa had a new boss in Steve Bruce.

It would be under Steve Bruce that Kodjia would truly blossom and prove that Villa had got this transfer very right and provide the fans with a new hero.

After bedding in Kodjia was simply unstoppable as a goalscoring force - in equal measure thrilling and frustrating,

Kodjia was never not the star.

Scoring 5 in Bruce’s first 5 games before adding 3 in the next 8 games to the end of 2016. Kodjia would then be sidelined by injury for four matches and by his return Steve Bruce’s Villa were mired in an awful run of 8 defeats in 10 games with no wins.

Kodjia though had other ideas and was quickly back on the score sheet - albeit initially in Villa defeats - however as fitness returned Kodjia hit 10 in 13 games before ending his scoring for the season with 19 goals in 36 appearances to finish the season as Villa’s top scorer.

2017-18 looked very different for Kodjia as an injury ravaged campaign ripped the goals out of his exuberant style. His injury, which proved much more impactful than it first seemed, took Kodjia out of a team he could have set records with and the player that returned, though still effective, was never the same.

Kodjia would make just 9 starts and 9 substitute appearances in 2017-18 and scored just a single penalty for the club in the 1-0 Championship win over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, 30 September 2017.

2018-19 would far better for Kodjia as he continued to recover from his 2017-18 travails, making 43 appearances, 21 as a substitute, Kodjia find himself behind the prolific Tammy Abraham under both Steve Bruce and Dean Smith and it was the latter’s preference for pressing, possession based football that led Kodjia to be used more of an impact sub that the leader of the line that Villa had benefited from so handsomely in 2016-17.

Kodjia hit 3 goals in Bruce’s final 10 league games as Villa boss and would be initially relegated to the bench under new boss Dean Smith, Kodjia was then handed 5 consecutive starts in which he scored once, with strike partner Tammy Abraham hitting 6 over the same period.

Once more being mainly used from the bench the next 17 appearances - some admittedly fleeting - Kodjia hit a single goal however returning to the side either side of a short injury in April 2019 saw Kodjia hit 3 in 4 games as Villa qualified for their second successive Play Off Final.

Kodjia would play no part in the Play Offs that secured Villa’s return to the Premier League after a 3 year absence but there were high hopes that Villa’s return to the top flight would enable Kodjia to showcase his talent in a less physical environment.

Sadly Kodjia didn’t suit the Premier League or Dean Smith’s demanding requirements and he left the club mid season still a hugely cherished and entertaining player.

Kodjia made his final appearance for Villa on Saturday, 4 January 2020 aged 30 before moving on to Al Gharafa Sports Club, Qatar that same month for a fee of £2,700,000.

Kodjia played under Roberto Di Matteo, Steve Bruce and Dean Smith