Charles Musonda (born 15 October 1996) is a Belgian 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 lea ...

. Mainly an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, he can also play as a winger. Since October 2024, he has been a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Early life

Born in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

to Zambian parents, Musonda started his career at

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 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, B ...

's youth setup. In 2011, aged only 15, he was already linked to the likes of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and Chelsea.

Club career

Chelsea

On 11 June 2012, Musonda joined Chelsea, along with his two older brothers, after the club previously agreed to pay a "compensation fee" to Anderlecht. On 24 October 2013, he signed a professional contract with the club, after already being a regular with the under-18s. On 5 March 2015, after already being a regular with the club's under-21 team, Musonda signed a contract extension until 2019. He attracted interest from French clubs

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

and

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

in the summer, after impressing in both

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

and

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

winning campaigns, but nothing came of it. After not making any first team appearance during the first half of the 2015–16 season, Musonda asked to leave due to lack of opportunities in December. In January 2016, he rejected a loan move from

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

Loan to Betis

On 29 January 2016, Musonda joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

on loan until the end of the season, without the option of making the move permanent. He made his professional debut on 7 February, starting in a 1–0 home win against

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, where he also was awarded

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

. Six days later, Musonda scored his first professional goal in a 2–2 draw at

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

. On 22 June, Musonda's loan at Real Betis was extended for the 2016–17 campaign. On 1 January 2017, after only making one start in the eight appearances Musonda made under manager

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer who is the manager of K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his career with s ...

, the Belgian returned to Chelsea.

2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons

On 1 January 2017, it was confirmed by Real Betis that Chelsea had recalled the Belgian. With manager

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional Association football, football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Serie A club Napoli. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the wo ...

unsure whether Musonda was to stay with the Blues or be loaned out, interest arose from many clubs around Europe, including

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. However, after the conclusion of the January

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, Antonio Conte confirmed in a post-match press conference preceding Chelsea's 1–1 away draw with Liverpool, that

Nathan Aké Nathan Benjamin Aké (; born 18 February 1995) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or left-back for club Manchester City and the Netherlands national team. Club career Chelsea Early life and career Nathan Benjamin ...

, Kenedy and Musonda would be staying at the club for the rest of the 2016–17 campaign. Musonda made his debut for Chelsea on 6 August 2017 in the

2017 FA Community Shield The 2017 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield supported by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 95th FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and ...

against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, coming on as a substitute after 84 minutes. He made his first starting appearance for the club in an

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

tie against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, scoring the third goal in a 5–1 victory on 20 September 2017.

Loan to Celtic

On 29 January 2018, Musonda joined

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

on an 18-month loan deal. He made his debut the following day in a 3–1 victory over Heart of Midlothian at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

. In February, he provided the assist for

Callum McGregor Callum William McGregor (born 14 June 1993) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for and Captain (association football), captains Scottish Premiership club Celtic F.C., Celtic. A Celtic academy graduate, McGregor ha ...

's goal in a 1–0 win over Zenit St Petersburg in the first leg of the round of 32 stage of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. The loan agreement was terminated in May 2018, as Musonda had not received sufficient playing time at Celtic. Manager Brendan Rodgers claimed that the club had beat competition from Real Madrid to sign Musonda.

Loan to Vitesse

Musonda then departed Chelsea once again, joining

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

side Vitesse on a season-long loan from 31 August 2018 (transfer deadline day), having missed out on Chelsea's 23-man squad ahead of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

season. Musonda then agreed to remain there on loan for a second season during the following July. One week into his initial loan period, Musonda suffered a

posterior cruciate ligament The posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) is a ligament in each knee of humans and various other animals. It works as a counterpart to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). It connects the posterior intercondylar area of the tibia to the Medial condyl ...

injury, which restricted him to just four league appearances over the next two seasons.

Recovery from injury and final stages in London

Shortly after he went through surgery in August 2019, a pool of doctors who examined Musonda's injury rated his chances of playing again at just 20%. However, the Belgian still decided to go through recovery and work on regaining his fitness and condition, eventually returning to team training between December 2020 and January 2021. Musonda was subsequently aggregated to the Blues' Under-23 squad: on 24 September 2021, he started and played for 61 minutes in the

Premier League 2 The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

match against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, which ended in 4-3 win for his side. The occasion marked his first official match in over two years. He also featured in the following league match against

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

, where he played the whole game and his side lost 1-0. In November 2021, while still training in London, Musonda announced that he wouldn't renew his contract with Chelsea, which was set to expire in June 2022. On 10 June 2022, Chelsea announced he was leaving the club.

Levante

On 16 August 2022, Musonda signed a two-year deal with

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

club Levante. On 25 September 2022, Musonda played his first professional game in over 1000 days against

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

after a period of long injury. On 1 September 2023, Musonda terminated his contract with the club.

Anorthosis

On 30 September 2023, Musonda signed a three-year contract with

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club

Anorthosis Famagusta Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

. However, he left the club after only one year.

International career

Musonda is a

Belgian international The Belgian International is an international badminton open tournament, held since 1958 but in irregular periods. Since 2005, Yonex has become title sponsor of the event, which also become an International Challenge tournament within the Badminto ...

from under-15 to under-21 levels.

Personal life

Charly attended

Richard Challoner School Richard Challoner School is an all boys secondary school with a mixed sixth form that is federated with Holy Cross School, New Malden. It has academy status and is in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England. The school is named after Bishop Rich ...

New Malden New Malden is a suburban area in southwest London, England. It is within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston upon Thames, Kingston, Norb ...

. Musonda's older brothers, Lamisha and Tika were also youth graduates at Chelsea and Anderlecht. His father, also named

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, was also a footballer who appeared mainly for Anderlecht, and was an international regular for

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

Career statistics

Honours

Chelsea Reserves *

: 2013–14, 2014–15 * Professional U21 Development League: 2013-14 *

: 2014–15

References

External links

Charly Musonda
Official Website * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Musonda, Charly 1996 births Living people Footballers from Brussels Belgian men's footballers Belgian expatriate men's footballers Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football wingers Chelsea F.C. players Real Betis players Celtic F.C. players SBV Vitesse players Levante UD footballers Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Premier League players La Liga players Scottish Professional Football League players Eredivisie players Segunda División players Cypriot First Division players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Belgian people of Zambian descent Black Belgian sportspeople 21st-century Belgian sportsmen