Arnold Mvuemba Makengo (born 28 January 1985) is a French-Congolese 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 ...
who plays as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for
Roeselare
Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke.
Th ...
in the
Belgian First Division B.
Club career
Mvuemba was born in
Alençon, Orne, France.
[ He was signed by ]Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
team Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
on loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...
from Stade Rennais in January 2007 until May 2007, with an option to complete a permanent deal. He made his debut against Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
on 25 February 2007, and scored his first Premier League goal on 9 April 2007 in a 4–2 defeat to Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
. On 3 July, Mvuemba signed a three-year contract with Portsmouth for an undisclosed fee. Mvuemba was part of Portsmouth's 2007–08 FA Cup
The 2007–08 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON for sponsorship reasons) was the 127th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. A record 731 clubs' entries were accepted for the competition.
The compet ...
-winning team. Despite not making the squad for the final he appeared in the earlier rounds. He scored against VfL Wolfsburg
Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...
in the UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
but it was not enough to enable Portsmouth to remain in the competition. On 7 August 2009, Mvuemba signed a contract with FC Lorient
Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (; commonly referred to FC Lorient or simply Lorient) is a French association football club based in Lorient
Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in we ...
after being released by Portsmouth.
He was signed by Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
in summer 2012 for €3 million and €1 million variable. Mvuemba was released by Lyon at the end of the 2015–16 season.
International career
Mvuemba made one appearance for the DR Congo national team in 2005.
Style of play
Mvuemba plays in central midfield normally as a playmaker in an attacking role. He came to prominence playing in this position alongside holding midfielder Lassana Diarra
Lassana Diarra (born 10 March 1985) is a French former professional footballer. His predominant position was as a defensive midfielder but he could also play in a more advanced role and has played at right back, which he occasionally has done ...
in the Toulon Tournament
The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...
(U20) in July 2004.
According to Liverpool and England striker Peter Crouch
Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was capped 42 times by the England national team between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals for his country during that time, and ...
, who was his team mate in Portsmouth, Mvuemba was the most talented player in the squad at the time but could not perform at his best due to nerves. Crouch wrote that Mvuemba was a "genius midfield playmaker who could turn invisible at the sound of a referee's whistle".
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mvuemba, Arnold
1985 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Alençon
French men's footballers
French sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent
France men's under-21 international footballers
Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers
Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Stade Rennais F.C. players
Portsmouth F.C. players
FC Lorient players
Olympique Lyonnais players
Umm Salal SC players
K.S.V. Roeselare players
Ligue 1 players
Premier League players
Qatar Stars League players
Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium
Challenger Pro League players
Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate men's footballers
French expatriate men's footballers
Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in France
Expatriate men's footballers in France
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar
Footballers from Normandy
Black French sportspeople