Paul-José M'Poku Ebunge (born 19 April 1992) is a 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 le ...

who plays as a winger for

Incheon United FC Incheon United FC is a South Korean professional football club based in Incheon that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. Founded in 2003, the club is a so-called "community club", with the government of the cit ...

and the DR Congo national team.

Club career

Tottenham Hotspur

Born in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

, M'Poku moved to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

as a child. Prior to joining Tottenham Hotspur in June 2008, he had played for Belgian club

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

and signed his first professional contract on 24 April 2009. Representing Tottenham Hotspur in the

Premier Academy League The Premier Academy League (sometimes abbreviated as FAPAL) was the top level of youth football in England before it was to be replaced by a new league proposed by the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012, which was accepted by the 72 member c ...

, he was a prolific scorer and was included in the squad for the FA Cup replay against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

on 26 February 2010.

Loan to Leyton Orient

On 24 September 2010, M'Poku moved to

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

on a month's loan, to last until 23 October. He made his professional debut coming on as a substitute for Orient against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

on 28 September. After impressing Orient manager

Russell Slade Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English professional association football, football manager, who was most recently managerial consultant of League Two club Stevenage F.C., Stevenage. Having had an extended career at reserve t ...

, M'Poku's loan was extended until 8 January 2011. He scored his first goal in English football with Orient's third in the 8–2 thrashing of

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester city centre and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the ...

in the FA Cup on 7 December. His loan was subsequently extended until the end of the season. He scored two league goals for Orient: their third in the 4–2 win over

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

on 3 January, and a late 25-yard winner against

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

on 12 March. He made 35 appearances for Orient in all competitions.

Standard Liège

Without making a first team appearance at Tottenham Hotspur, he was transferred back to Standard Liège in July 2011 for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-year contract. M’Poku remained out of the first team at the start of the 2011–12 season until on 28 August 2011, he made his first team appearance as an un-used substitute, in a 1–1 draw against Beerschot. M’Poku then made his Standard Liege debut, where he came on as a substitute for

Geoffrey Mujangi Bia Geoffrey Mujangi Bia (born 12 August 1989) is a Belgian international Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger for R.E. Virton, Virton. He established himself in Belgian football with R. Charleroi S.C., Charlero ...

in the last minutes, in a 2–1 win over

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 6 November 2011. In his first season at Standard Liege, M’Poku was featured less in the first team under the management of

José Riga José Riga (born 30 July 1957) is a Belgian former football player and manager. Managerial career Charlton Athletic Riga was appointed as manager of Charlton Athletic on 11 March 2014, one day after the sacking of Chris Powell, who had been dism ...

., as he made eight appearances for the club. The 2012–13 season saw M’Poku get more playing time at the club under the new management of

Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian football coach and former player who played as a defender. Club career Mircea Rednic, nicknamed "Puriul" was born on 9 April 1962 in Hunedoara and until he was 14 years old he played table tenn ...

. M'Poku scored his first goal on 23 November 2012 in a 3–0 win against Lierse. M’Poku then provided a double assist, in a 3–0 win over Beerschot on 27 December 2012. In the

Play-Offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, M’Poku went to score five more goals against Zulte Waregem (scored against them in another encounter),

Genk Genk () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. I ...

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 ...

and Club Brugge despite suffering from a knee injury, but managed to recover from it. M’Poku then scored a hat-trick in a 7–0 win over

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, a ...

on 26 May 2013 to help the club qualify for the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

next season. M’Poku finished the 2012–13 season, making thirty one appearance and scoring nine times in all competitions. The 2013–14 season saw M’Poku being linked with a move to rivals,

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

, though the club's owner,

Roland Duchâtelet Roland Duchâtelet (; born 14 November 1946) is a Belgian businessman and politician. He is the owner of football clubs Carl Zeiss Jena and Újpest. He is the founder of the social-liberal political party Vivant in Belgium. Business In 1990 ...

, said there were no offers made for M’Poku from Anderlecht. Despite this, M’Poku remained at the club. M’Poku started the 2013–14 season well when he scored his first goals of the season, in a 3–1 win over KR in the first leg of second round of Europa League and scored his first league goal of the season, in a 2–0 win over Genk on 11 August 2013. M’Poku scored in the second leg of the Europa League Qualification Round, in a 3–0 win over

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

and scored his second league goal, in a 2–0 win over

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...

. By the end of 2013, M’Poku scored against

Bruxelles Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...

, Red Bull Salzburg, Lierse and Genk. M’Poku later added three goals in the 2013–14 season against Cercle Brugge, Zulte Waregem and Lokeren. At the end of the 2013–14 season, which saw Standard Liege failing to win the league, M’Poku made forty–nine appearances and scored twelve times. He was also nominated for the Ebony Shoes, but lost out to

Thorgan Hazard Thorgan Ganael Francis Hazard (born 29 March 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and winger for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Belgium national team. He is the younger brother of Eden and ...

. Despite this, M’Poku was rewarded with a new contract with the club, keeping him until 2018. In the 2014–15 season, M’Poku continued to attract interests around Europe and Qatar, but remained at the club. M’Poku started the season well when he scored in the second leg of the third round of Champions League, in a 2–1 win over

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

and was awarded Man of the Match by Sporza. Then on 21 September 2014, M’Poku scored his first league goal of the season and set up a goal, in a 2–0 win over

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren is a professional Belgian association football club located in the municipality of Beveren, East Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division B. History The club was founded in 1936 as Red Star and registered to an amate ...

. He also four more goals by November against Zulte Waregem,

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 ...

, regaining Europa League Champions

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

and Genk. However, M’Poku suffered injuries by the end of 2014. In the January transfer window, M’Poku continued to attract interests and was on a verge of joining Qatar side Al-Arabi and expected to be loaned out to a European club. However, the move suffered a huge setback over his fitness and the move was eventually cancelled. After the move was broken down, M’Poku was then linked with a move to

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

and

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 ...

side

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

Loan to Cagliari

On 1 February 2015, M'Poku signed for

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

on loan until the end of the season. Upon joining the club, M’Poku revealed that then-Manager

Gianfranco Zola Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea. He spent the first decade of his playing career playing in ...

persuaded him to join the club. M’Poku made his Cagliari debut, where he came on as a substitute for Alejandro González in the 61st minute, and scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–1 loss against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

on 8 February 2015. Two weeks later, on 23 February 2015, M’Poku made his first start, playing 90 minutes, in a 2–1 loss against

. M’Poku scored his second Cagliari goal and set up one of the goals, in a 4–0 win over

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

on 4 May 2015. In the last game of the season, M’Poku scored his third Cagliari goal and set up one of the goals, in a 4–3 win over

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

. M’Poku made sixteen appearances and scoring three times, but was unable to help the club survive relegation to Serie B next season.

Chievo

After being unregistered by Standard Liege ahead of the new season, it was announced on 13 July 2015, M’Poku was loaned out to another Italian club by joining

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

on a season-loan deal for the 2015–16 season. M’Poku made his Chievo debut in the opening game of the season, where he made his first start and played 45 minutes before being substituted, in a 3–1 win over

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

. However, in a 1–0 loss against Inter Milan on 23 September 2015, M’Poku suffered an injury after colliding with Inter's

Felipe Melo Felipe Melo de Carvalho (born 26 June 1983), known as Felipe Melo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Fluminense. He began his career with Campeonato Brasileiro Série A teams Flamengo, Cruzeiro a ...

and was substituted after playing 14 minutes. M’Poku then made his return to the first team on 28 October 2015, where he came on as a substitute in the second half, in a 1–0 loss against

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

. However, M’Poku struggled to score goal, like he did at Cagliari, as he made twenty appearances and scoring none, as he spent most of the season on the substitute bench. After a loan spell at Chievo, M’Poku joined the club on a permanent basis, signing a three–year contract on 31 May 2016.

Loan to Panathinaikos

On 31 August 2016, M'Poku signed a year long-term loan with Greek giants

on loan from Chievo, for an undisclosed fee. On 30 October he scored his first goal with the club in a 2–0 home

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

game against Iraklis.

Return to Standard Liège

On 3 July 2017, M’Poku decided to leave

as he agreed to return to his former club of Standard Liege. According to various sources, the Belgian Club moved to sign the Congolese winger, by putting on the table a bid of €1.5 million. M’Poku under-went medical examinations before signing a five-year contract. On 17 March 2018 he played as Standard Liege beat

1–0 in extra time to win the 2018 Belgian Cup Final and qualify for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

Al-Wahda

On 21 January 2020, Al Wahda signed M'Poku from

Incheon United

On 12 December 2022, M'Poku has joined

of South Korean

K League 1 The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

International career

M'Poku represented Belgium at youth level, such as, Belgium U15, Belgium U16, Belgium U17, Belgium U18, Belgium U19, and Belgium U21. On 19 February 2015, M'Poku announced his decision to play for

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

despite being monitored by the senior team. M'Poku scored on his DR Congo debut in the friendly match on 28 March 2015, in a 2–1 loss against

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. In January 2017 M'poku was selected in DR Congo's final squad for 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 ...

in Gabon.

Personal life

Though he was linked with a move to Anderlecht, M’Poku stated he expressed his dislike towards the club on his Twitter account. M'Poku's brother Albert Sambi Lokonga is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and Results show Congo DR's goal tally first'' , - , align=center, 1. , , 28 March 2015 , ,

Khalid Bin Mohammed Stadium Khalid Bin Mohammed Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It is currently used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified ...

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

, United Arab Emirates , , , , , , , , Friendly , - , align=center, 2. , , rowspan="2", 5 June 2016 , , rowspan="2", Rabemananjara Stadium,

Mahajanga Mahajanga (French: Majunga) is a city and an administrative district on the northwest coast of Madagascar. The city of Mahajanga (Mahajanga I) is the capital of the Boeny Region. The district (identical to the city) had a population of 220,629 i ...

, Madagascar , , rowspan="2", , , align=center, 2–0 , , rowspan="2" align=center, 6–1 , , rowspan="2",

2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the 31st edition of the international men's football champion ...

, - , align=center, 3. , , , - , align=center, 4. , , 24 January 2017 , ,

Stade de Port-Gentil The Stade de Port-Gentil is a stadium in Port-Gentil, Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered ...

Port-Gentil Port-Gentil () or Mandji is the second-largest city of Gabon, and it is a leading seaport. It is the center of Gabon's petroleum and timber industries. The city is located on a delta island in the Ogooue delta with no bridges to the mainland. Nea ...

, Gabon , , , , , , , ,

, - , align=center, 5. , , 29 January 2017 , , Stade d'Oyem,

Oyem Oyem is the capital of Woleu-Ntem province in northern Gabon, lying on the N2 road and the River Ntem. Geography The town lies on a plateau at an elevation of about . It is the administrative and transport center for the surrounding agricultural ...

, Gabon , , , , , , , ,

, - , align=center, 6. , , 5 September 2017 , ,

Stade des Martyrs The Stade des Martyrs de la Pentecôte (Martyrs of Pentecost Stadium), also known as simply the Stade des Martyrs and formerly known as Stade Kamanyola, is a national stadium located in the town of Lingwala in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democra ...

, DR Congo , , , , , , , ,

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

Honours

Standard Liège *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2017–18 Belgian Cup, 2017–18

References

External links