Bristol City may have looked on at big-money Crystal Palace, Everton deal with frustration: View | OneFootball

When you think of Yannick Bolasie, you automatically think of his spells with Crystal Palace, and latterly his spell with Everton, but the winger actually began his professional career in the South West of England.

The DR Congo international played for Plymouth Argyle between 2008 and 2011, before moving to fellow West Country side Bristol City for the 2011/12 season.

He may have spent just one season with the Robins, but he did enough to win the club's Young Player of the Year award, before handing in a transfer request in the summer of 2012 as he wanted to move back to London.

Crystal Palace were the lucky recipients of Bolasie's desire to move back to the capital, and he would go onto to become a cult-hero at Selhurst Park.

However, in hindsight, Bristol City will be cursing their luck that they only received a transfer fee of £500,000 for the skillful winger, especially when you consider just how much money Palace made off him a few years later.

Bristol City would have been gutted that they couldn't keep hold of Yannick Bolasie

At the time, a £500,000 fee for Yannick Bolasie would have looked like decent business for Bristol City, but in the years to come it became apparent that they could have earned a lot more money from him.

The Congo international helped the Eagles win promotion during the 2012/13 season, and his stock began to rise rapidly.

Bolasie became a bit of a Premier League icon at Selhurst Park in the years that followed, with his skill, trickery and pace making him a difficult player to stop, and he quite often embarrassed opposition defenders.

It's a compliment to say that Bolasie often played the game like someone just having a kick about with his mates, with his nonchalant way of playing drawing attention from supporters and pundits alike.

So much so, that Everton forked out a fee reported to be around £28 million in the summer of 2016 to bring him to Goodison Park. Given Bristol City had sold him for £500,000 just a couple of years previously, you could have forgiven the hierarchy at Ashton Gate for kicking themselves for cashing in too early.

However, they weren't to know how Bolasie's career was to pan out and can't be blamed after the player wanted to leave, but no doubt there would have been a sense of frustration lingering at the club.

Yannick Bolasie has endured a nomadic career since leaving Crystal Palace

Now 34 years of age, Bolasie's career is still going strong, and he's currently playing for Brazilian outfit Criciuma in the top flight of that nation.

Since joining Everton in 2016, Bolasie has played football in five different countries, and he's certainly making the most of his playing ability to experience new cultures.

Bolasie was on the books at Everton for five years, although he spent a lot of that time on loan, with spells in the Championship with Aston Villa and Middlesbrough sandwiched between spells in Belgium and Portugal.

A move to Turkey followed, before Bolasie made an incredible return to the EFL, joining Swansea City on a short-term deal earlier this season. The Congo international played quite well during his short stay with the Swans, helping to add some much-needed pace to Swansea's ranks, before moving on in January 2024.

A move to Brazil with Criciuma followed, and Bolasie has been up to his old tricks, with his skills causing defenders all sorts of problems.

Bristol City didn't know it at the time, but they had a very special talent on their books in Yannick Bolasie, and they could have made a fortune from him if he hadn't departed for Crystal Palace in the summer of 2012.