 Imbula withMarseille in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gilbert Imbula Wanga[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1992-09-12)12 September 1992 (age 33) | ||
| Place of birth | Vilvoorde, Belgium[2] | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998–1999 | US Argenteuil | ||
| 2000–2004 | Racing Club | ||
| 2004–2005 | Paris Saint-Germain | ||
| 2005–2007 | Racing Club | ||
| 2007–2009 | Guingamp | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2013 | Guingamp | 91 | (4) |
| 2013–2014 | Marseille B | 2 | (0) |
| 2013–2015 | Marseille | 66 | (3) |
| 2015–2016 | Porto | 10 | (0) |
| 2016–2020 | Stoke City | 26 | (2) |
| 2017–2018 | →Toulouse (loan) | 28 | (1) |
| 2018–2019 | →Rayo Vallecano (loan) | 22 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | →Lecce (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2020 | Sochi | 1 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Portimonense | 9 | (0) |
| 2023 | Tuzlaspor | 14 | (1) |
| 2023–2024 | İstanbulspor | 4 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2013 | France U20 | 4 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | France U21 | 7 | (0) |
| 2019– | DR Congo | 2 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 3 February 2024 | |||
Gilbert Imbula Wanga (born 12 September 1992) is a professionalfootballer who plays as adefensive midfielder.[3] Born in Belgium, Imbula played youth football for France, before changing international allegiance to theDR Congo national football team.
Imbula began his career with French clubGuingamp, where he progressed from the youth teams to make his professional debut in October 2009. He helped Guingamp to promotion from theChampionnat National in2010–11. He established himself as a key member of the Guingamp team inLigue 2 and one of the stand out players in the division which saw him win theLigue 2 Player of the Year Award. This promptedLigue 1 sideMarseille to sign Imbula for a fee of €7 million.
He spent two seasons at theStade Vélodrome before joining Portuguese sidePorto in the summer of 2015 for €20 million. After seven months at Porto, Imbula joined English club Stoke City for a club record £18.3 million. Despite making a promising start at Stoke, he had a poor2016–17 season and was sent on loan toLigue 1 sideToulouse in2017–18,La Liga sideRayo Vallecano in2018–19 andSerie A sideLecce in2019–20.
Imbula was born inVilvoorde, Belgium, toCongolese parents, who moved toParis when he was young.[4] Growing up he played youth team football with US Argenteuil,Racing Club,Paris Saint-Germain before moving toGuingamp when he was 15.[5][6]
Imbula progressed through the youth team at theStade de Roudourou and made his professional debut inLigue 2 on 16 October 2009 in a game againstDijon, becoming the youngest player in Ligue 2 history at 17 years, 1 month and 4 days of age.[7] He played 33 times in2010–11, scoring twice and helping Guingamp gain an instant promotion back to Ligue 2.[8] He made 30 appearances in2011–12 as the side finished seventh which was followed by promotion toLigue 1 in2012–13, with Imbula making 36 appearances, scoring two goals and he was namedLigue 2 Player of the Year.[7][8]
In July 2013, Imbula joinedMarseille for a fee of €7 million, including bonuses.[9][6] He played 37 times for Marseille in2013–14 as the team and Imbula failed to make a significant impact, finishing outside of the European places in sixth spot. However, under the management ofMarcelo Bielsa in2014–15, Imbula formed an effective understanding withAndré Ayew,André-Pierre Gignac andDimitri Payet where they finished in fourth place in the league table and were the second highest goalscorers with 76 goals.[6]
On 1 July 2015, Imbula signed a five-year contract with Portuguese sidePorto for a club record fee of €20 million.[10][11] He struggled, however, to settle in Portugal and reports emerged that Porto would be willing to let him leave in the 2016 January transfer window.[12]
On 1 February 2016, Imbula joinedPremier League clubStoke City on a five-and-a-half-year contract for a club record €24 million (£18.3 million).[13][14][15] He made his Stoke debut on 6 February 2016 in a 3–0 defeat againstEverton.[16] Imbula scored his first goal for Stoke on 13 February in a 3–1 win overBournemouth.[17] He made a good start to his Stoke career and earned the praise of teammateGeoff Cameron.[18] He scored in a 2–1 victory againstWest Ham United on the final day of the2015–16 season, helping Stoke to a ninth-place finish.[19]
Stoke and Imbula made a poor start to the2016–17 campaign and he was dropped from the side by managerMark Hughes.[20] He returned to the side in December and January before again being left out of the squad by Hughes.[21][22] Imbula made 14 appearances for Stoke in 2016–17 and it was reported that the club would be willing to cut their losses on Imbula in the summer transfer window.[23][24] Whilst at Stoke, Imbula's attitude prompted some heavy criticism from some of his club teammates.Glen Johnson spoke onBBC Radio 5 Live in March 2019 about an occasion where Imbula subbed himself in a pre-season game after someone did not pass him the ball, only to sub himself back on again ten minutes later.[25] Imbula's contract with Stoke was terminated on 22 February 2020.[26]
In August 2017, Imbula joinedToulouse on loan for the2017–18 season.[27] Imbula played 34 times for Toulouse, helping them remain in Ligue 1 after they defeatedAjaccio in a relegation play-off.[28]
On 30 August 2018, Imbula moved toLa Liga sideRayo Vallecano on a one-year loan deal.[29] Imbula played 24 times for Rayo in2018–19 as the team finished bottom of the table,[28] scoring once with a long-range strike in a 0–1 win atSD Huesca on his 14 September 2018 debut.[30]
Imbula joinedSerie A sideLecce on loan for the2019–20 season.[31] On 21 February 2020 he received the consensual termination of the contract with the Italian club.[32]
On 3 March 2020, Imbula signed forRussian Premier League clubPFC Sochi.[33] He left Sochi in late July 2020.[34]
After leaving Sochi, Imbula was allowed to use the training facilities of former clubGuingamp,[35] but ultimately he wasn't offered a contract by theLigue 2 side.[36]
On 9 March 2021, Imbula signed forPrimeira Liga clubPortimonense S.C.[37]
On 9 January 2023, Imbula joinedTFF First League clubTuzlaspor.[38][39]
On 30 August 2023 he signed a 2-year contract withSüper Lig clubİstanbulspor.[40]
Born to Congolese parents,[41] Imbula was born in Belgium but raised in France. In 2013, he acquiredFrench nationality by naturalization and received a call up fromFrance under-21 team to compete in theToulon Tournament.[42] In October 2015, however, Imbula publicly expressed his desire to play for theBelgium national team, for which reason he has required authorization toFIFA to do so.[43] Imbula was called up to theDR Congo national team squad to face Tanzania on 14 March 2018, but rejected the call-up.[44]One year later, Imbula was named in the provisional DR Congo squad for the2019 Africa Cup of Nations.[45][46] However, he was not included in the final 23-man squad after his international clearance was not processed in time.[47] He received international clearance in October 2019.[48] Imbula debuted for the DR Congo in a 0–02021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification tie withGabon on 14 November 2019.[49]
Imbula plays as adefensive midfielder and has been described byMark Hughes as being able to play incentre 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."[50]
Imbula married his fiancée, Linda, in the summer of 2016.[51] Imbula was caught speeding inStockport in March 2016.[52]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Guingamp | 2009–10[28] | Ligue 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| 2010–11[28] | Championnat National | 28 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 33 | 2 | ||
| 2011–12[28] | Ligue 2 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13[28] | Ligue 2 | 34 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 36 | 2 | ||
| Total | 91 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 101 | 4 | |||
| Marseille B | 2013–14[28] | CFA 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Marseille | 2013–14[53] | Ligue 1 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 37 | 1 |
| 2014–15[54] | Ligue 1 | 37 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 39 | 2 | ||
| Total | 66 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 76 | 3 | ||
| Porto | 2015–16[55] | Primeira Liga | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5[a] | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| Stoke City | 2015–16[55] | Premier League | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 2 | |
| 2016–17[23] | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18[56] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19[57] | EFL Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20[58] | EFL Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 28 | 2 | |||
| Stoke City U23 | 2016–17[23] | — | — | — | — | 1[b] | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Toulouse (loan) | 2017–18[28] | Ligue 1 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 34 | 1 |
| Rayo Vallecano (loan) | 2018–19[28] | La Liga | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 1 | ||
| Lecce (loan) | 2019–20[28] | Serie A | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 4 | 1 | ||
| Sochi | 2019–20[28] | Russian Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Portimonense | 2021–22[28] | Primeira Liga | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |
| Tuzlaspor | 2022–23[28] | TFF First League | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 1 | ||
| 2023–34[28] | TFF First League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | ||
| İstanbulspor | 2023–34[28] | Süper Lig | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 277 | 12 | 17 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 324 | 13 | ||
Individual
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