Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa
Yanga-Mbiwa in 2012
Personal information
Full name Mapou Nzapali Yanga-Mbiwa[1]
Date of birth (1989-05-15) 15 May 1989[2]
Place of birth Bangui, Central African Republic
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
2005–2007 Montpellier
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2013 Montpellier 186 (4)
2013–2014 Newcastle United 37 (0)
2014–2015 Roma 28 (1)
2015–2020 Lyon 54 (2)
International career
2009–2010 France U21 5 (1)
2012–2014 France 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 December 2020

Mapou Nzapali Yanga-Mbiwa (born 15 May 1989) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back.

Early life and career

Yanga-Mbiwa was born in Bangui, Central African Republic,[2] but moved to France as an eight-year-old, growing up in Port-de-Bouc, Bouches-du-Rhône, not far from Marseille.

Club career

Montpellier

Yanga-Mbiwa joined Montpellier as a youth player in 2005 and made his professional football debut on 23 February 2007 in a 1–0 away defeat to Bastia starting the match and playing the entire 90 minutes, picking up a yellow card. Following the season, he signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal until 2010. He was officially promoted to the senior squad and was assigned the number 3 shirt.

Initially, Yanga-Mbiwa was utilised as a substitute earlier on during the 2007–08 season, but by September 2007, despite being only 18 years old, Montpellier manager Rolland Courbis named Yanga-Mbiwa a starter for the rest of the 2007–08 season. Yanga-Mbiwa didn't disappoint appearing in 41 total matches scoring one goal. Beginning with the club's 31 August 1–0 victory over Ajaccio,[3] Mbiwa appeared in every match Montpellier played including the Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France matches, where Montpellier reached the Round of 16 and Round of 32, respectively. His only goal of the season came on 12 May 2008 against FC Gueugnon scoring the winner in injury time to give Montpellier a 2–1 victory.[4]

Already established as a regular, Yanga-Mbiwa was an incumbent starter heading into the 2008–09 season, and despite competition from fellow youngsters Mickaël Nelson and Abdel El Kaoutari, he continually impressed appearing in 33 total matches and scoring one goal against Angers in a 3–3 draw again in injury time. The equalising goal came only seconds after Angers took the lead with a goal from Malik Couturier.[5] On 20 March 2009, with Montpellier in a decisive battle for promotion, Yanga-Mbiwa picked up an extensive injury against Brest, which ruled him out for almost two months. He returned to the team on 8 May 2009 and played the final four matches helping Montpellier achieve promotion to Ligue 1 on the final day of the season.

Despite promotion to Ligue 1, with his impending stint in prison oncoming, manager Rolland Courbis resigned from his position and new manager René Girard came on. Girard made it clear that one of his many priorities were to keep hold of Yanga-Mbiwa and on 2 June 2009, it was done with the club signing the player to a two-year contract extension until 2012.[6] Yanga-Mbiwa made his Ligue 1 debut in the club's opening match of the season against Paris Saint-Germain playing the entire match in a 1–1 draw.[7] On 12 May 2010, Yanga-Mbiwa added an extra year to his contract after agreeing to a contract extension with the club.

Newcastle United

On 22 January 2013, Yanga-Mbiwa completed a transfer to Newcastle United for £8.5 million.[8] He agreed to a five-and-a-half-year deal at St James' Park, where he wore the number 13 shirt. He made his début for Newcastle on 29 January 2013 as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 win against Aston Villa.[9]

Roma

On 1 September 2014, Yanga-Mbiwa signed for Italian club Roma on a season-long loan, with an option to make the move permanent for £5.5m on top of the £1m loan fee. He made his debut as a 77th-minute substitute in the Champions League match against CSKA Moscow on 17 September. Four days later, he played in his first Serie A match, starting in a 2–0 win over Cagliari. On 27 January 2015, Newcastle United announced that Yanga-Mbiwa would join Roma on a permanent deal after meeting a contractual condition contained in the loan agreement between the clubs.

On 25 May 2015, Yanga-Mbiwa scored his only goal with Roma and the winning goal against club's rival Lazio during the Derby della Capitale in a 2-1 win, which ensured a 2nd-placed finish in the 2014–15 Serie A season as well as earning a start in the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League.[10]

Lyon

Yanga-Mbiwa playing for Lyon in 2015

On 14 August 2015, Yanga-Mbiwa completed a transfer to French club Lyon for €8 million with possible €2 million bonus fee.[11] On 8 May he scored two to help take Lyon past Monaco, ending his first season with two goals. He terminated his contract with Lyon on the 1 July 2020 with 72 matches played and 2 goals scored for the club in 5 years.

International career

Yanga-Mbiwa has dual citizenship with both France and the Central African Republic meaning he is eligible to represent both. He was also eligible to play for Cameroon. He did not appear on either nation's youth team, but on 1 October 2009, he was called up to the France under-21 team by coach Erick Mombaerts for their 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Malta on 9 October and Belgium on 13 October.[12] On 15 May 2012, Yanga-Mbiwa had been named to France's preliminary squad for UEFA Euro 2012. However, on 29 May, coach Laurent Blanc announced his final squad and Yanga-Mbiwa was not included.[13]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 13 December 2017[14][15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Montpellier 2006–07 Ligue 2 100000——10
2007–08 Ligue 2 3414030——411
2008–09 Ligue 2 2911030——331
2009–10 Ligue 1 3601000——370
2010–11 Ligue 1 36100402[lower-alpha 1]0—421
2011–12 Ligue 1 3412020——381
2012–13 Ligue 1 16010206[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0270
Total 18649014080102194
Newcastle United 2012–13 Premier League 14000006[lower-alpha 1]0—200
2013–14 Premier League 2302010——260
Total 37020106000460
Roma 2014–15 Serie A 28110009[lower-alpha 2]0—381
Lyon 2015–16 Ligue 1 27210205[lower-alpha 2]0—352
2016–17 Ligue 1 25010007[lower-alpha 4]01[lower-alpha 3]0340
2017–18 Ligue 1 20001000—30
Total 542203012010722
Career total 3319150200400204109
  1. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. 1 2 Appearance in Trophée des Champions
  4. ↑ Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

Source:[16]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
France 201230
201410
Total40

Honours

Montpellier

References

  1. ↑ "Comunicato Ufficiale N. 215" [Official Press Release No. 215] (PDF) (in Italian). Lega Serie A. 27 April 2015. p. 5. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  3. ↑ Montpellier v. Ajaccio Match Report. Lfp.fr. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  4. ↑ v. Montpellier Match Report. .fr. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  5. ↑ Angers v. Montpellier Match Report. Lfp.fr. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Saihi et Yanga-Mbiwa prolongent. Ref.francefootball.fr (2 June 2009). Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  7. ↑ Montpellier v. PSG Match Report Archived 17 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Lfp.fr. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  8. ↑ . Sky Sports (6 Jan 2014). Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "Aston Villa 1 Newcastle 2". Newcastle United F.C. 29 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "Lazio-Roma 1-2, Yanga-Mbiwa regala il 2° posto ai giallorossi". 25 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa signs five-year deal with Lyon". ESPN FC. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  12. ↑ (in French) France Espoirs : Aït-Fana et Yanga-Mbiwa convoqués Archived 7 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Mhscfoot.com (1 October 2009). Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  13. ↑ "Blanc finds no place for Gourcuff, Yanga-Mbiwa". UEFA. 29 May 2012.
  14. 1 2 "Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa profile". Ligue 1. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  15. ↑ Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa at Soccerway
  16. ↑ Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa at National-Football-Teams.com
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