Britt Assombalonga

Britt Curtis Assombalonga (born 6 December 1992) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Watford and the DR Congo national team. He played in the Football League for Watford, Southend United, Peterborough United, Nottingham Forest and most recently Middlesbrough.

Early life

Assambalonga was born in Kinshasa, Zaire, and moved to London, England, with his family at eight months old. He grew up in Swiss Cottage, in the London borough of Camden, and attended Whitefield School. He is the son of Fedor Assombalonga, a former Zaire international footballer. His brother, Christian, is also a footballer who plays in the English non-League football system.

Club career

Watford

Assombalonga began his career with Watford, signing as a 17-year-old youth player in 2010 after making his way through via the Hertswood Impact Scheme. In his first full season in the youth team, he finished as the second top goal scorer while his team made it to the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals.

He also appeared regularly for Watford's reserve team, and was rewarded for his performances with a one-year professional contract at the end of the season. He was an unused substitute for the senior squad's last two games against Preston North End and Queens Park Rangers.

In November 2011, Assombalonga joined Wealdstone alongside youth teammate Connor Smith to gain more playing experience. On 3 December, he scored his first goal in a league match against Concord Rangers. Assombalonga had his loan spell extended for another month on 4 January 2012. Assombalonga returned to Watford on 4 February, having scored 11 goals in 16 games for Wealdstone.

Just days after his return to Watford, Assombalonga was loaned to Braintree Town on a one-month deal. Despite being heavily linked with a permanent move to Scottish club Peterhead, he also signed a one-year contract extension with Watford on the same day. Assombalonga made an eventful debut in a 3–3 draw against Lincoln City; he scored his first goal for the club to put Braintree 3–2 up before being sent off for a second bookable offence. He scored four more goals in four games for Braintree after serving his one-match suspension, and was subsequently recalled by Watford to join their senior squad.

On 17 March 2012, he made his first-team debut in a 0–0 draw with Coventry City. His appearance made him the 50th player to go through Watford's academy and represent the first-team.

At the start of the 2012–13 season, Assombalonga joined League Two club Southend United on an initial one-month loan. On 25 August 2012, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–3 draw against Northampton Town. Assombalonga went on to score five goals in four matches, including a brace in a 3–1 win against Dagenham & Redbridge on 7 September.

At the end of the month, Southend extended the loan deal to run until 3 January 2013. Having established himself in the first team, Assombalonga became the club's top scorer that season with a total of 15 goals. Southend again extended Assombalonga's loan in December 2012, keeping him at the club until the end of the season. He played in the 2013 League Trophy Final against Crewe Alexandra which Southend lost 2–0.

Peterborough United

On 31 July 2013, League One side Peterborough United broke their previous transfer record to sign Assombalonga from Watford on a four-year deal. The fee was undisclosed, but was confirmed as greatly exceeding the club's previous £1.1 million record fee. He was given the number nine shirt. Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony hailed the deal, saying he was "delighted", and that Assombalonga had been Peterborough's main transfer target. On the opening game of the season, he scored on his debut as Peterborough defeated Swindon Town 1–0. He scored a penalty in a 3–1 win over Chesterfield at Wembley in the 2014 Football League Trophy Final.

Nottingham Forest

On 6 August 2014, Assombalonga joined Nottingham Forest on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee reported to be in the region of £5 million, potentially rising to £8 million based on various clauses (of which Watford will receive 50% due to sell-on clauses). This made Assombalonga Forest's record signing, surpassing the £4.5 million fee paid to Celtic for striker Pierre van Hooijdonk in 1997. Assombalonga scored his first goals for Forest twelve days after signing, netting a brace against Bolton Wanderers at the Macron Stadium. He then scored a goal each in their next two games, against Bournemouth and Reading respectively. Assombalonga scored in his first East Midlands Derby, opening the scoring against Derby County at the City Ground. Assombalonga's goal-scoring run continued with his first hat-trick for Forest on 17 September in a 5–3 home victory against Fulham. He then went on to score in the reverse fixture against Derby, equalising at Pride Park as Forest secured a 2–1 win to relieve the pressure on their beleaguered manager Stuart Pearce. On 11 February 2015, Assombalonga sustained a serious knee injury during a 3–0 victory over Wigan Athletic after taking a shot at goal that prematurely ended his season. Assombalonga eventually made his return from injury on 19 April 2016 as an 84th-minute substitute for Robert Tesche in a draw against Blackburn Rovers. On 7 May Assombalonga scored the winner away at MK Dons, his first senior goal since his injury.

On the opening day of the 2016–17 season, Assombalonga started the first competitive match under new manager Philippe Montanier and scored a brace at home against newly promoted Burton Albion. The striker then reaffirmed his commitment to Forest by signing a new five-year contract on 2 September, tying him to the club until 2021. On 19 November, Assombalonga scored a brace against Ipswich Town, his first coming after only 17 seconds, which took his tally to six goals in eight games for the season. After the game, Assombalonga was described as the "best goalscorer in the league" by teammate Ben Osborn and "the best in the business outside of the Premier League" by former Forest defender Kenny Burns. Assombalonga missed Forest's next game – a 5–2 win at Barnsley – with a hamstring problem to continue his injury-hit start to the season. Assombalonga ended the season on a high, scoring his second brace against Ipswich Town on 7 May. With Forest remaining out of the Championship relegation zone by virtue of a one-goal difference with Blackburn Rovers, Assombalonga's brace – one a penalty and the other an exquisite solo effort – either side of a Chris Cohen goal ensured that Forest retained their Championship status at the expense of the Lancashire club. He ended the Championship season as Forest's top goalscorer, having scored 14 goals from 20 starts and 12 substitute appearances.

Middlesbrough

On 17 July 2017, Assombalonga signed for newly relegated Championship club Middlesbrough, for a reported club-record fee of £15 million. He scored his first goals for Middlesbrough when he scored twice in a 2–0 win against Burton Albion on 15 August 2017.

Middlesbrough did not offer him a renewal of his contract, due to expire at the end of the 2020–21 season, and manager Neil Warnock confirmed on 21 April 2021 that he had been allowed to leave the club early.

Adana Demirspor

On 3 July 2021, Assombalonga signed a three-year deal with the newly-promoted Süper Lig side Adana Demirspor. On 29 January 2023, he had his contract terminated by mutual consent.

Return to Watford

On 29 January 2023, Assombalonga signed for Championship club Watford on a six-month contract. He scored his first goal for the club on 14 March 2023 in a 3-0 win against Birmingham City.

International career

Assombalonga was eligible to represent both England and the Democratic Republic of the Congo internationally. In August 2014, he was named on a 37-man provisional DR Congo squad list for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification but withdrew from the final squad.

On 4 November 2016, the Nottingham Post reported that Assombalonga had accepted a call-up to the DR Congo national side for their away game against Guinea on 13 November. Assombalonga was forced to pull out of the squad prior to the game as he was not cleared to play in time. That December, Assombalonga rejected the chance to represent DR Congo at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, stating that he wanted to focus on playing games for Nottingham Forest after an injury-hit season.

Assombalonga made his senior debut for DR Congo in a friendly 2–0 loss to Tanzania on 27 March 2018.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Assombalonga goal.''

Honours

Peterborough United
*Football League Trophy: 2013–14

Individual
* PFA Team of the Year: 2013–14 League One

References

External links

Profile
at the Middlesbrough F.C. website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assombalonga, Britt
1992 births
Living people
Footballers from Kinshasa
People from Swiss Cottage
Footballers from Hampstead
Democratic Republic of the Congo footballers
Democratic Republic of the Congo international footballers
English footballers
Association football wingers
Association football forwards
Watford F.C. players
Wealdstone F.C. players
Braintree Town F.C. players
Southend United F.C. players
Peterborough United F.C. players
Nottingham Forest F.C. players
Middlesbrough F.C. players
Adana Demirspor footballers
Isthmian League players
National League (English football) players
English Football League players
2019 Africa Cup of Nations players
Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to England
Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate footballers
English sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent
Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Expatriate footballers in Turkey