Fuka-Arthur Masuaku Kawela (born 7 November 1993), known as Arthur Masuaku, is a 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 wing-back or

left 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 ...

for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

, on loan from club

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 ...

, and the DR Congo national team. Masuaku began his senior career with

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, and has also played for

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. He represented France at youth level before switching his allegiance to DR Congo in 2017.

Club career

Valenciennes

Masuaku was born in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

. He came through the youth system of

. He made his

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 ...

debut on the opening game of the 2013–14 season on 10 August 2013 against

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

. He was substituted after 75 minutes for

Tongo Doumbia Tongo Hamed Doumbia (born 6 August 1989) is a Malian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Western United and the Mali national team. Career French football Doumbia played youth football with Olympique Noisy-le-Sec, JS Noisy ...

. On 29 January 2014 Masuaku scored his first competitive goal for Valenciennes in a 2–1 away defeat against

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 ...

Olympiacos

In July 2014, Masuaku signed for

. He made his Superleague debut against

Niki Volos Niki Volou Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Νίκη Βόλου) is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Volos, in the region of Magnesia, Greece. The club currently competes in the Super League 2, the second tier of Greek football ...

, and in his third league match he provided two assists against

OFI Crete OFI may refer to: * Overseas Filipino Investors, Filipino expatriates who contribute to the economy of the Philippines through remittances, buying property, and creating businesses * OFI Crete, a Greek association football club based on the island ...

in a 3–0 home win. Three days later he made his debut and scored in the

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 ...

competition against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

in a 3–2 home win. In April and May 2015, interest from

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 ...

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

and

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 ...

was reported. His agent, Roger Henrotay, however stated a renewal of Masuaku's contract was on the cards. In July, a reported €4 million offer for Masuaku including former Olympiacos midfielder

Giannis Fetfatzidis Giannis Fetfatzidis ( el, Γιάννης Φετφατζίδης; born 21 December 1990) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a winger for Italian club SPAL. Primarily a winger, Fetfatzidis is praised for his dribbling skills, his pac ...

from

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

was rejected by the club.

West Ham United

On 8 August 2016, Masuaku joined

on a four-year contract for a £6.2 million fee. He made his West Ham debut in a 2–1 away defeat to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on 15 August 2016. Masuaku admitted that he found his Premier League debut very tough due to the pace and physicality of the league. He scored his first goal for West Ham in an

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 ...

tie 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 19 September 2017. In the FA Cup fourth round game against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on 27 January 2018, Masuaku was sent off for spitting at Wigan's

Nick Powell Nicholas Edward Powell (born 23 March 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or as a striker for EFL Championship club Stoke City. He began his career at Crewe Alexandra, initially as a forward, making his de ...

following a challenge. It was the first sending-off of Masuaku's career. Masuaku apologised for the sending off, saying the incident was "totally unacceptable and out of character". He received a six match ban for the offence. In July 2019, having played 75 times for West Ham, Masuaku signed a contract extension with the club until 2024 with an option to further extend the contract for two years. On 4 December 2021, Masuaku scored the winning goal in a 3–2 victory over defending

winners

. The goal, a mishit cross that caught out Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy at his near post, was his first ever

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 ...

goal.

Beşiktaş

On 2 August 2022, Masuaku joined Turkish team Beşiktaş on a season long loan with an option to buy in 2023.

International career

Having represented

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

at under-18 and under-19 level, Masuaku switched his allegiance to

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 ...

in June 2017. In August 2017, he was called into his first DR Congo squad, for two

2018 World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia national football team, Rus ...

games against

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

. In March 2018, still yet to make his international debut, Masuaku travelled with the DR Congo squad for a friendly against Tanzania. He was one of four players to drop out before the game, amidst claims of organisational problems and travel disorder, and did not appear. He made his debut on 13 October 2018, starting in a 1–2 home loss against

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

in a

2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, the 32nd edition of the international men's football champion ...

game. Masuaku scored his first goal for DR Congo, a free-kick, in a 1–1 away draw with

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

on 15 June 2019.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 29 March 2022. Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first.''

Honours

Olympiacos *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

: 2014–15; runner-up: 2015–16

Individual

Team of the Year: 2014–15, 2015–16

References

External links

*
Masuaku at West Ham Official Website
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Masuaku, Arthur 1993 births Living people Footballers from Lille Democratic Republic of the Congo footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo international footballers French footballers France youth international footballers Association football defenders Valenciennes FC players Olympiacos F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Ligue 1 players Super League Greece players Premier League players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate footballers French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Greece French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Greece Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in England Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Greece French sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Black French sportspeople Expatriate footballers in Turkey Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Süper Lig players