Giannelli Imbula

Early career

Imbula was born in Vilvoorde, Belgium, to Congolese parents, who moved to Paris when he was young. Growing up he played youth team football with US Argenteuil, Racing Club, Paris Saint-Germain before moving to Guingamp when he was 15. Imbula progressed through the youth team at the Stade de Roudourou and made his professional debut in Ligue 2 on 16 October 2009 in a game against Dijon, becoming the youngest player in Ligue 2 history at 17 years, 1 month and 4 days of age. He played 33 times in 2010–11, scoring twice and helping Guingamp gain an instant promotion back to Ligue 2. He made 30 appearances in 2011–12 as the side finished seventh which was followed by promotion to Ligue 1 in 2012–13, with Imbula making 36 appearances, scoring two goals and he was named Ligue 2 Player of the Year.

Marseille

In July 2013, Imbula joined Marseille for a fee of €7 million, including bonuses. He played 37 times for Marseille in 2013–14 as the team and Imbula failed to make a significant impact, finishing outside of the European places in sixth spot. However, under the management of Marcelo Bielsa in 2014–15, Imbula formed an effective understanding with André Ayew, André-Pierre Gignac and Dimitri Payet where they finished in fourth place in the league table and were the second highest goalscorers with 76 goals.

Porto

On 1 July 2015, Imbula signed a five-year contract with Portuguese side Porto for a club record fee of €20 million. He struggled,…

Born to Congolese parents, Imbula was born in Belgium but raised in France. In 2013, he acquired French nationality by naturalization and received a call up from France under-21 team to compete in the Toulon Tournament. In October 2015, however, Imbula publicly expressed his desire to play for the Belgium national team, for which reason he has required authorization to FIFA to do so. Imbula was called up to the DR Congo national team squad to face Tanzania on 14 March 2018, but rejected the call-up. One year later, Imbula was named in the provisional DR Congo squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. However, he was not included in the final 23-man squad after his international clearance was not processed in time. He received international clearance in October 2019. Imbula debuted for the DR Congo in a 0–0 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification tie with Gabon on 14 November 2019.

Imbula plays as a defensive midfielder and has been described by Mark Hughes as being able to play in centre midfield: "He's a defensive midfielder and he's got a lot of attributes in terms of understanding that role, but he can play in a three as well. I like that flexibility in players because it gives me more options. He's a good young player with good power, good ability on the ball, and a good range of passing."

Imbula married his fiancée, Linda, in the summer of 2016. Imbula was caught speeding in Stockport in March 2016.