Timothée Joseph Pembélé (; born 9 September 2002) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defender for club

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

, on loan from club

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Club career

Paris Saint-Germain

Pembélé joined the

Paris Saint-Germain Academy The Paris Saint-Germain FC Youth Academy () is the youth system of both Paris Saint-Germain FC, Paris Saint-Germain's male and Paris Saint-Germain FC (women), female teams. Managed by the Association Paris Saint-Germain, the men's section of ...

at the age of 13 in 2015, having spent the previous seven years of his youth career at US Persan 03. On 4 July 2018, at the age of 15, he signed his first professional contract with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), tying him to the club until 30 June 2021.

2020–21: Debut season

On 28 November 2020, Pembélé made his professional debut in a 2–2

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

draw against

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, starting as a right center-back in a pairing with Presnel Kimpembe. Despite scoring an own goal at the tenth minute of the match, Pembélé's performance was regarded by most observers as a very promising one. He made good use of his speed and vision in defence, recovering the ball on several occasions, and helped his team move forward in attack with several successful vertical passes. At one point in the match, he dribbled a distance of 40 meters with the ball, leading to a corner for PSG. On 4 December 2020, Pembélé extended his contract with PSG to 2024. He made his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

debut five days later, coming on as a substitute for Alessandro Florenzi in a 5–1 win against İstanbul Başakşehir. Pembélé’s first goal for Paris Saint-Germain came in a 4–0 victory over

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

on 23 December.

2021–22: Loan to Bordeaux

On 10 August 2021, Pembélé joined Bordeaux on a season-long loan with an option-to-buy. He scored in his debut match, a 2–2 league draw against

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 ...

. On 19 December 2021, he scored the first brace of his career in a 10–0

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

win over Jumeaux de M'zouazia. On 10 April 2022, he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in a match against

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

, effectively his last match of the season. It was confirmed on 9 June 2022 that he would leave Bordeaux following the expiration of his loan deal.

2022–23: Return from injury and Ligue 1 title

Pembélé was out injured for the first part of the 2022–23 season, due to an ACL injury he had suffered in April 2022. After nine months on the sidelines, he made his return to play in a friendly game on 19 January 2023, coming on as a substitute in a 5–4 win over the hybrid Riyadh Season Team. His first official match back from injury was a start in a 7–0 Coupe de France victory over Pays de Cassel on 23 January. Pembélé made his return to play in Ligue 1 in a 3–1 defeat to

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, ...

on 11 February. He won his first Ligue 1 title at the end of the season.

Sunderland

On 1 September 2023, Pembélé joined EFL Championship club

on a five-year contract.

Loan to Le Havre

On 30 August 2024, Pembélé signed for Ligue 1 club

on a season-long loan.

International career

Pembélé has represented France at U16, U17, and U18 level. He made a total of 6 appearances at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup, a tournament in which France finished third. On 2 July 2021, Pembélé was included in the 21-player list selected to represent France at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Style of play

Having played different positions such as right-back,

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, and center-back, Pembélé has been described as being a versatile defender. In an interview with ArchySport, he stated that he prefers to play on the right side of defence. "I really like to attack, to defend well too. This side in general is where I feel best," said Pembélé. He is right-footed. According to Culture PSG, Pembélé is a quick player equipped with good technique, and he constantly brings an offensive threat on his side of the pitch. He boasts above-average skills in reading the game, which has helped him when repositioning on the field during matches. Pembélé is adept at stealing the ball of attackers with his pace and tenacity, using his technique to turn while hugging the touchline, and accelerating past the opponent he was marking moments earlier.

Personal life

Pembélé was born in Beaumont-sur-Oise in France. He is of Congolese descent.

Career statistics

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2022–23 *

: 2020–21 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

France U17 * FIFA U-17 World Cup third place:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pembele, Timothee 2002 births Living people People from Beaumont-sur-Oise French men's footballers France men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football utility players Paris Saint-Germain FC players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Sunderland A.F.C. players Le Havre AC players Ligue 1 players Black French sportspeople French sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Olympic footballers for France Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Footballers from Val-d'Oise French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in England English Football League players 21st-century French sportsmen