Mario René Junior Lemina (; born 1 September 1993) is a Gabonese 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

central 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

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 Foo ...

club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. He played for French sides

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

and

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, before joining Italian side

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in 2015, where he won the domestic double in both of his seasons with the club. He joined English side

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in 2017, and was later loaned out to Turkish club

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

in 2019. After a loan to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in England, he joined French club Nice in 2021. In January 2023, he returned to England after signing for Wolverhampton Wanderers. A former French international at youth level, Lemina went on to represent Gabon at senior level, making his senior international debut in 2017. He later represented Gabon at the

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and

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...

Club career

Early career

Lemina began his youth career in France aged 7 at local club ES Nanterre; he then went to study sports at Rueil-Malmaison, finishing at Colombes. Aged 15, he signed with the

youth academy; he was later promoted to the first team during the 2012–13 season, his only season with the club.

Marseille

The following season,

acquired Lemina for €4 million, although he initially struggled to gain playing time in his first year with the club, making only eight league starts during the 2013–14 season. He began to be used more frequently by manager

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning "The Crazy Bielsa"; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional football manager who was most recently the head coach of Premier League club Leeds United. He is a forme ...

during the 2014–15 season, making his breakthrough with the club, as he helped the team to a fourth-place finish, earning 23 appearances in the league. In February 2015, Lemina was sent off for a punch to the groin of

Ola Toivonen Nils Ola Toivonen (; born 3 July 1986) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or forward. After beginning his career in his home town team of Degerfors, he spent time in the top flight for Örgryte b ...

in a 1–1

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

away draw against

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

Juventus

During the summer of 2015, Lemina began to attract the attention of several clubs, including

clubs

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. On 31 August, however, the last day of the transfer window,

announced the signing of Lemina on a season-long loan for €500,000 with an option to buy for €9.5 million at the end of the 2015–16 season. On 26 September 2015, he scored his first goal for Juventus in his third appearance, coming in the 63rd minute of a 2–1 away loss to

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. On 29 April 2016, Lemina's loan was made permanent; he signed a four-year deal from Marseille for a fee of €9.5 million plus an extra €1 million if performance related targets are met. The deal was scheduled to keep him at Juventus until 2020. On 21 May, Lemina started in the Coppa Italia Final, playing the full match as Juventus defeated

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

1–0 after extra time to capture the domestic double for the second consecutive season.

Southampton

On 8 August 2017, Lemina joined

on a five-year deal for a club record fee of £15.4m. He made his debut on 20 August, in a 3–2 victory over

. His first goal for Southampton came in a 3–2 victory over fellow strugglers

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

on 3 February.

Loan to Galatasaray

In 2019–20 season, Lemina joined

on a loan deal.

Loan to Fulham

On 30 August 2020, Lemina was loaned out to

with an option to buy. He made his debut for the club on 16 September 2020 in the second round of the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, which Fulham won 1–0. On 7 March 2021, Lemina scored his first Fulham goal to seal a 1–0 away win over

, handing them their sixth consecutive league defeat at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

for the first time in the Reds' history. In doing so, Lemina also clinched Fulham's second win at Liverpool in the club's history.

Nice

On 24 July 2021, Lemina joined

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

for an undisclosed fee.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 13 January 2023, Lemina joined

for an undisclosed fee on a two and a half year deal. He made his first appearance on 14 January 2023 as a substitute in a home Premier League game against

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

, a fixture which Wolves won 1–0. Lemina made his full Wolves debut on 22 January 2023 in a 3–0 loss at

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

and then his full home debut on 4 February, helping the hosts to defeat

, also by a 3–0 scoreline. On Lemina's fourth appearance for his new side on 11 February, he was sent off in the first-half of Wolves's Premier League game away to Lemina's former club, Southampton, for receiving two yellow cards. Wolves went on to win the game 2–1 despite playing for more than an hour with 10-men.

International career

Lemina had been called by the Gabon national team to participate in the

2015 African Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was org ...

, but he refused his call-up. Although he had initially represented France's under-20 and under-21 sides, also winning the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

at youth level, he formally switched to the Gabonese Federation on 2 June, and is now a formal member of the Gabon national team. He scored on his international debut, in a 3–3 friendly draw against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

on 9 October 2015. Lemina took part at the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

, which was held on home soil. He started in Gabon's opening match of the tournament on 14 January – a 1–1 draw against

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

– but later suffered a back-injury, however, which ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament. On 17 January 2022, Lemina announced his retirement from the Gabon national team. He had just been released by Gabon following a heart complication due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, leaving in the middle of the

tournament.

Style of play

A strong, powerful, hard-working, and dynamic right-footed

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 ...

, with good technical skills and solid distribution, Lemina is a

box-to-box 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 ...

player who is usually deployed in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, due to his ability to start attacking plays after winning back possession. Described as a "classy and tenacious midfielder," due to his tactical versatility, he is capable of playing in several positions, and has been deployed as a winger, as a full-back, or as a wing-back, on the right flank; during his time with Marseille, he also played as

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

in a three-man defence on occasion, during the 2014–15 season, under manager

. He also been deployed as a

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

on occasion. Despite his talent, he has also earned a reputation for having a temper and for lacking concentration at times.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Gabon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lemina goal.''

Honours

Juventus *

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

: 2015–16, 2016–17 *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

: 2015–16, 2016–17 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

runner-up: 2016–17 Nice *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

runner-up: 2021–22 France U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. website * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemina, Mario 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Libreville French sportspeople of Gabonese descent French footballers Gabonese footballers Association football midfielders FC Lorient players Olympique de Marseille players Juventus F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Fulham F.C. players OGC Nice players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Championnat National 2 players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 3 players Serie A players Premier League players Süper Lig players France youth international footballers France under-21 international footballers Gabon international footballers 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Gabonese expatriate footballers Gabonese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Gabonese expatriate sportspeople in England Gabonese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Turkey Black French sportspeople