Serge Atakayi
Personal information
Full name Serge Atakayi
Date of birth (1999-01-30) 30 January 1999
Place of birth Kinshasa, DR Congo
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Free agent
Youth career
2013–2015 FF Jaro
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2016 FF Jaro 29 (3)
2015 → JBK (loan) 10 (2)
2016–2019 Rangers 1 (0)
2019 → SJK (loan) 10 (1)
2020–2022 SJK 28 (1)
2021 → FC TPS (loan) 13 (3)
2022–2023 St Patrick's Athletic 23 (4)
2023 → Waterford (loan) 12 (0)
International career‡
2014 Finland U15 2 (0)
2015 Finland U17
2016 Finland U18 5 (2)
2016–2018 Finland U19 11 (0)
2019 DR Congo U23 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:35, 21 November 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:02, 26 October 2022 (UTC)

Serge Atakayi (born 30 January 1999) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a winger most recently for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. Originally from the DR Congo, he represented Finland up to the under-19 level before representing DR Congo at under-23 level.

Early life

Atakayi, originally from Democratic Republic of the Congo, applied for asylum in Finland alongside other members of his youth football team when visiting the country in 2010.[1][2][3][4]

Club career

FF Jaro

Atakayi joined the youth system at FF Jaro in 2013 and made his senior debut for the club in 2015.[5] He became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Finnish top flight when he scored against HIFK on 17 May 2015, aged 16 years and 107 days.[6][1]

Rangers

On 31 August 2016, after trial periods with Leicester City and Fulham, he joined Rangers on a three-year contract.[7] He signed a one-year contract extension to tie him to Rangers until 2020 in June 2018.[8] He made his debut against Motherwell in a 7–1 win during November 2018 but suffered a broken ankle in the game.[9][3]

SJK

Atakayi left Rangers on 30 December 2019 to join Finnish side SJK for a reported fee of £100,000.[10][11] Atakayi played in 19 games on the 2020 season and scored once. On 4 June 2021 it was told by SJK-head coach Jani Honkavaara that Atakayi had not been training with the team since February because of attitude problems. [12] Atakayi only played in one Finnish Cup game for SJK in the 2021 season. On 28 July 2021 he moved to TPS on loan.[13]

St Patrick's Athletic

On 15 July 2022 it was announced that Atakayi had signed for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic on an 18 month contract for an undisclosed fee.[14] He made his debut on the same day, in a 1–1 draw with Dundalk at Richmond Park.[15] His first goal for the club came on 4 August 2022 when he scored an 87th minute winner away to CSKA Sofia in the UEFA Europa Conference League Third qualifying round.[16] On 14 August 2022, he scored the winning goal against Sligo Rovers at Richmond Park in what was his first league start for the club.[17] On 19 August 2022, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory away to UCD, his third goal in his last four games.[18] On 14 October 2022, he opened the scoring in a 3–1 win over Dublin rivals Bohemians.[19] He followed that up a week later by again opening the scoring in another Dublin derby, this time away to Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium.[20] In December 2023, it was announced that Atakayi had been released by the club at the end of his contract, following his loan spell with Waterford.[21]

Waterford loan

On 1 July 2023, Atakayi signed for League of Ireland First Division side Waterford on loan until the end of the season.[22] He made 14 appearances in all competitions as his side earned promotion back to the League of Ireland Premier Division via the playoffs.[23]

International career

Finland

Atakayi was born in DR Congo but obtained Finnish citizenship in 2016 and represented Finland at under-15 level.[5] In June 2016, Atakayi represented Finland at under-18 level in the Baltic Cup and scored in a 2–2 draw with Lithuania on 2 June 2016.[24][25] He made his debut for the Finland under-19 side on 4 September 2016, in a goalless draw with Romania.[26]

DR Congo

While living in Glasgow, Atakayi become close friends with compatriot Youssouf Mulumbu who was playing for Celtic at the time and was a senior international for DR Congo. Mulumbu spoke with Atakayi about changing his international allegiance to his birth country.[27] In March 2019, Atakayi was called up to the DR Congo U23 team for two 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification fixtures against Morocco U23.[28] The first leg at home in Kinshasa represented a first opportunity for Atakayi to return home to see his family since seeking asylum from the country in 2010.[4]

Career statistics

As of match played on 14 October 2023[29]
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
FF Jaro 2015 Veikkausliiga 1620040——202
2016 Ykkönen 1310000——131
Total 2930040——333
JBK (loan) 2015 Kakkonen 1020000——102
Rangers 2016–17 Scottish Premiership 000000—0000
2017–18 000000001[lower-alpha 3]010
2018–19 100000001[lower-alpha 3]020
2019–20 000000003[lower-alpha 3]131
Total 100000005161
SJK (loan) 2019 Veikkausliiga 10100———101
SJK 2020 Veikkausliiga 19150———241
2021 0010———10
2022 90205000—160
Total 382805000—512
TPS (loan) 2021 Ykkönen 13300———133
St Patrick's Athletic 2022 LOI Premier Division 13410—3[lower-alpha 4]1—175
2023 100———0[lower-alpha 5]0100
Total 23410—3100275
Waterford (loan) 2023 LOI First Division 12020—–00140
Career total 1261411090315115416

References

  1. 1 2 Berry, Gavin (2 September 2016). "Rangers signing Serge Atakayi and his incredible story of tears, torment and seeking asylum". Daily Record.
  2. ↑ "Saints' Serge Atakayi reflects on fleeing home and seeking asylum, aged just 10". independent.
  3. 1 2 "New St Pat's winger Serge Atakayi on leaving family behind in Congo, seeking asylum, and breaking an ankle on his Rangers debut". independent.
  4. 1 2 McCadden, Mark (18 July 2022). "St Pat's new signing on his "crazy" life so far". Irish Mirror.
  5. 1 2 "Huippulupaus sai Suomen kansalaisuuden - Pietarsaareen Kinshashan kaduilta [Top Promise Receives Finnish Citizenship]". Yle (in Finnish). 17 May 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "Veikkausliigan historiaa [Veikkausliiga History]". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 18 May 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "Rangers Academy Transfer Roundup". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Thomson, Nick (15 June 2018). "Hardie Signs New Deal". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club.
  9. ↑ "Rangers 7-1 Motherwell". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 November 2018.
  10. ↑ "Serge Atakayi Joins SJK". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club. 30 December 2019.
  11. ↑ "Serge Atakayi set for Rangers permanent exit as Finland return fee revealed". Daily Record. 29 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "Serge Atakayin pelit SJK:ssa pelattu, Honkavaaran mukaan muutkin muutokset mahdollisia: "Aiomme olla aktiivisia siirtoikkunassa"". ilkkapohjalainen.fi. Ilkka-Pohjalainen. 4 June 2021.
  13. ↑ "Atakayi lainasopimuksella Ykköseen". 28 July 2021.
  14. ↑ "Serge Signs For The Saints". www.stpatsfc.com.
  15. ↑ "Spoils shared but Dundalk boss Stephen O'Donnell sees red on Richmond return". independent.
  16. ↑ "Atakayi's late goal gives St Pat's famous away victory in Sofia". The Irish Times.
  17. ↑ Buttner, Paul (14 August 2022). "Ten man St Pat's beat Sligo as Atakayi scores first league goal". Irish Examiner.
  18. ↑ Buttner, Paul (19 August 2022). "Clinical Atakayi earns Saints win over Students" – via www.rte.ie.
  19. ↑ Geraghty, Darryl. "St Pat's keep up bid for Europe with win over Bohs at packed Richmond Park". The42.
  20. ↑ Sneyd, David. "Shamrock Rovers on brink of Premier Division title after another perfect storm". The42.
  21. ↑ Dempsey, Andrew. "Thijs Timmermans among trio to depart St Patrick's Athletic". extratime.com.
  22. ↑ "Blues sign Serge". Waterford FC.
  23. ↑ Barry, Stephen (10 November 2023). "Waterford win promotion in extra-time against Cork City" – via www.rte.ie.
  24. ↑ "U18 nimetty Baltic Cupiin [Named U18 Baltic Cup]". Palloliitto (in Finnish). 18 May 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  25. ↑ "U18-maajoukkue tasapeliin Liettuaa vastaan [U18-national team draw against Lithuania]". Palloliitto (in Finnish). 2 June 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  26. ↑ "U19 ja Romania maalittomaan [U19 and Romania with no goals]". Palloliitto (in Finnish). 4 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  27. ↑ McCadden, Mark (7 October 2022). "St Pat's ace is eager for another chance to shine in Europe". Irish Mirror.
  28. ↑ "CAN U23 : la liste de la RDC contre le Maroc avec O. Mandanda". Afrik-Foot. 8 March 2019.
  29. ↑ "S. Atakayi". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
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