René Salomon Olembé-Olembé (born 8 December 1980) is a Cameroonian former 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 ...

who played as a left midfielder.

Club career

Olembé started his career with

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, where he contributed 30 appearances as his side won 2000–01 French Division 1. He also played in the victorious

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Coupe de France finals and the 1999 Trophée des Champions. He then transferred to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in 2002. While at Marseille he spent a season on loan at English Premiership strugglers

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

and a season at Qatari club

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipalities of Qatar, municipality in Qatar. Its primary settlement is the Al Rayyan (city), city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and is a part of the Do ...

. After leaving Marseille permanently in 2007, Olembé spent the summer on trial at Premiership newcomers Derby County, where he scored in a friendly match against Burton Albion. However, he was not offered a contract by Derby and, on 4 September, he was snapped up by

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

manager Chris Hutchings on a one-year initial contract. He was signed as a replacement for the recently departed Leighton Baines, but only made eight appearances for the Lancashire club. In April 2008, it was revealed that Olembé would transfer to Turkish club

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

. In January 2010, in the winter break of his second season in the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

, Olembé transferred to Greek side

Larissa Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...

, but spent only a few months with the club before joining English Championship team

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

on trial in March. He played in a reserve game against

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 ...

but was substituted at half-time.

International career

Olembé holds Cameroonian and French nationalities. He acquired French nationality by

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

on 17 June 1999. He made his debut for the Cameroon national team in 1997, and made a total of 64 appearances for his country. He represented Cameroon at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

and the 2004 African Cup of Nations.

Career statistics

''Cameroon score shown first''

Honours

Marseille *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

References

External links

*
BBC: World Cup 2002
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olembe, Salomon 1980 births Living people Footballers from Yaoundé Men's association football midfielders Cameroonian men's footballers 21st-century Cameroonian sportsmen Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers Cameroon men's international footballers FC Nantes players Olympique de Marseille players Leeds United F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Kayserispor footballers Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players Al-Rayyan SC players Ligue 1 players Premier League players Süper Lig players Qatar Stars League players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 1998 African Cup of Nations players 2000 African Cup of Nations players 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in England Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in France Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar 21st-century French sportsmen 20th-century French sportsmen