MALI international Bakary Sako joins Gary Linekar, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards's Deportrio for the huge Baller League tournament.
SunSport brings you the lowdown on the former Crystal Palace and Wolves winger.
Who is Bakary Sako?
Making 21 appearances for Mali, Sako is an established star for his country.
The tricky winger, who heavily featured for St-Etienne and Wolves at the beginning of his career in troubling periods for both clubs.
Coming through the ranks of La Chateauroux of the Chamionnat National, Sako earned a transfer to St-Etienne where he featured 113 times in Ligue 1.
24 goal contributions in that period caught the eyes of Wolves, who picked him up for €3.80m after three years at Les Verts.
Impressively netting 24 times, combined with 20 assists in 78 games, in what was a very turbulent time for Wolves, he joined Crystal Palace on a free transfer, where he scored on his debut in a win over Aston Villa.
Fleeting opportunities at West Brom and Pafos, he returned to St-Etienne, where he once started, ahead of transfers to APO Levadiakos and FC 93 Bobigny, who both sit in the lower tiers of Greek and French football respectively.
With a dazzling 1.2million followers on Instagram, Sako looks to take centre stage in the new Baller League tournament beginning on March 24.
What are the Baller League rules?
- Matches will be played in a six-a-side format on an smaller indoor pitch.
- Each half set to last 15 minutes.
- Shock rule twists to be introduced for the final three minutes of each half including a three vs three format, long-range goals counting as double, and goalkeepers not allowed to use their hands.
- These rule twists for the final three minutes will be randomised.
- MLS style one-vs-one penalties to be used.
- 12 teams in the league with the top four going through to the playoffs.
- The league starts in March 2025, with the final four playoff in May to crown the winner.
Baller League squads in FULL
26ers – J'ardell Stirling, Bilal Sayoud, Sak Hassan, Kojo Apenteng, Marcel Lewis, Jordon Ibe, Matt Chizzum, Emmanuel Rowe, Justin Dass, Spike Stegel, Vladislav Platinov, Jack Crook.
Deportrio – Bakary Sako, Adam Dawson, Francis Gerald Mapolo, Zach Fagan, Marvin Sordell, Charlie Kuehn, Tommy Scott, Raphael Gas, Alex Dyer, Ruben Singale, Tristan Goodridge, Leo Serri.
FC Rules the World – Michael Ndiweni, Josh Harrop, Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, Kevin Gonzalez, Oliver Bosworth, Karim Kamhouri, Erghis Pepy, Onuchi Oki, Yusuf Shentu, Alamiji Oluma, Sandro Kamara, Festus Chalet.
M7 FC– Jesse Waller-Lassen, Femi Akinwande, Stefan Ilic, Jean Belehouan, Toby Bull, Sam Fitzgerald, Arjun Young, Ramez Gonzalo, Arin Zaha, Lewis Garcia, Henry Wise, Zion Nditi.
MVPs United – Lorenzo Spinelli, Ashton Peltier, Jake Chambers Shaw, Ross Derham, Josh Misoki, James Canton, Alfie Matthew, Declan McCarthy, Jay Beckford, Joe Edwards, Dwayne Suel, Esteban Salgado.
N5 FC – Owen Locke, Adrian Mariappa, Brian Ly, Charlie Wakefield, Dayo Adekayo, Chris Arba, Imran Kahani, Michael Class, James Alabi, Troy Molunda, Freddie Berrati, Callum Charlton.
Santan FC – Michael Hill, Richard Kesey, Dominic Voss, Erick Kenco, Ranell McKenzie Lowes, Jamell Abou-Bakare, Rico Okinari, David Upu, Abdullah Gervardi, Jack Wilson, David Solidemi, Luka Valentine.
SDS FC – Bruno Andrade, Bayley Brown, Ody Alfa, Cole Da Silva, David Marques Castanho, Calvin Dickson, Big John, Camillo Astreppo, Finley Chadwick, Michael Felibe, Hussein Mahdi, Tyler Edmundson.
Trebol FC – Montel McKenzie, Vani Da Silva, Ciaran Clark, Isaac Modi, Ethan Oke, Reggie, Emi, Ryan Gorwell, Jordan Brown, Shani Omed, Aaron Steven, Nathan Bowen.
VZN FC– Henri Lansbury, Kurtice Herbert, Jerome Sinclair, Remy Mitchell, Montel McKenzie, Florian Kastrati, Michael Olive-Wigan, Barrell Mensah, Ethan McClear, Diego Dombaboni, Jami Kheresi, Luka Barusic.
Wembley Rangers – Domingos Pires, Check Fayum, Ben Long, Stuart Cook, Oliver Cannon, Juan Pablo, Ruben Junior, Luke Gambin, Kaylen Kofi, Braden Shaw, Joseph Diomande, Nabid Eshari.
Yanited – Kadell Daniel, Michael Hector, Mohammed Mahyoub, Remy Clerima, Percy Kiangebeni, Medy Elito, Max Pitman, Harry Cain, Henry O'Shea, Daniel Thompson, Daniel Woods, Pharrel Mensah.
