Anthony Limbombe Ekango (born 15 July 1994) is a Belgian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a winger or

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Challenger Pro League club Beveren.

Club career

Racing Genk

Born in

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

, Limbombe began his youth career with

in 2000. In 2005, he joined Belgian Pro League side Racing Genk. He made his

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

debut at the age of 16 in a 3–1 victory at

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

on 18 September 2010. He also played for Genk in the Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. During his career with Racing Genk he won the Belgian Pro League in 2010–11 season, and he also won the Belgian Super Cup in 2011, in total he scored 2 goals in 62 League appearances. For the second half of the 2013–14 season, Limbombe was sent on loan to

Lierse SK Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring (), often simply known as Lierse, was a Belgian professional football club from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse have won four championship titles and two Belgian Cups. Lierse was one of the six ...

where he scored 2 goals in 7 games.

NEC Nijmegen

On 30 August 2014, he signed with Eerste Divisie side N.E.C on a three-year deal with the option of a fourth year. He impressed in his first season at the club, scoring 14 goals and providing numerous assists in his debut season at the club, helping N.E.C. win the Eerste Divisie as champions and gain promotion to Eredivisie. On 12 August 2015, Limbombe played for N.E.C. against Excelsior in the opening day of the 2015–16 Eredivisie season in a 1–0 victory. A day later, NEC rejected a £1.5 million bid from English side Leeds United for Limbombe. On 22 August, the club announced that Limbombe had been left out of the squad against Ajax due to deeming him 'insufficiently focused' after the interest linking him with Leeds United. However, on 1 September, Leeds ended their interest in Limbombe after failing to up the bid, signing winger

Jordan Botaka Jordan Rolly Botaka (born 24 June 1993) is a Congolese professional footballer. He represents DR Congo at international level. He formerly played for Club Brugge, Belenenses (on loan), Excelsior, Sint-Truiden, Gent, Charleroi and Fortuna Sit ...

from Dutch Club Excelsior instead. After impressing during the 2015–16 season, scoring 7 goals and gaining 7 assists in the Eredivisie, on 1 June 2016, Limbombe amid further interest again from English side Leeds United, handed in a transfer request at NEC. However, Leeds were again unable to agree on a fee with N.E.C for the player.

Club Brugge

On 23 July 2016, Limbombe returned to Belgium to join

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

on a four-year deal for a fee around the margin of £2 million.

Nantes

On 23 August 2018, Limbombe joined French side

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

on a five-year deal for a fee around the margin of €7 million.

Loan to Standard Liège

On 26 June 2019, Limbombe joined Belgian side Standard Liège on a one-year loan. His new club secured an option to sign him permanently. After scoring in his first match for the club, he suffered a knee injury in October. In December 2019, it was announced that Limbombe's loan at Standard Liège would be cut short and that he would return to Nantes in January.

Return to Nantes

Limbombe made no appearances on the field for Nantes in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 season. On 4 April 2022, his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Almere City

On 26 June 2022, Limbombe signed a two-year contract with Eerste Divisie club

Almere City Almere City Football Club is a Dutch professional Association football, football club based in Almere, Flevoland. Founded in 2001, plays in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and hosts home matches ...

Beveren

On 6 September 2023, Limbombe moved to Beveren on a two-season contract.

International career

Limbombe was born in Belgium to Congolese parents, and is eligible to represent either nation. He represented Belgium at U16 international level and has played at Belgium U17 level. In 2012, he was capped for Belgium U19's. He was named in the

Roberto Martinez The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

Belgian squad for the friendly against Saudi Arabia in Brussels on 27 March 2018. He made his debut in a 4–0 win against Saudi Arabia, as he was subbed in at half-time.

Personal life

Anthony is the older brother of the footballer

Bryan Bryan may refer to: Places United States * Bryan, Arkansas * Bryan, Kentucky * Bryan, Ohio * Bryan, Texas * Bryan, Wyoming, a ghost town in Sweetwater County in the U.S. state of Wyoming * Bryan Township (disambiguation) Facilities and structur ...

and the younger brother of the footballer

Stallone Limbombe Stallone Limbombe (born 26 March 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Othellos Athienou. International career Born in Belgium and of Congolese descent, Limbombe was called up to represent the DR Congo national fo ...

Career statistics

Honours

Racing Genk * Belgian Pro League:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

* Belgian Super Cup:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

NEC * Eerste Divisie: 2014–15 Individual * Ebony Shoe: 2018

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Limbombe, Anthony 1994 births Living people Footballers from Mechelen Belgian men's footballers Belgium men's international footballers Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Men's association football wingers K.V. Mechelen players K.R.C. Genk players Lierse S.K. players NEC Nijmegen players Club Brugge KV players FC Nantes players Standard Liège players Almere City FC players S.K. Beveren players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in France Belgian expatriate sportspeople in France