Giannelli Imbula
Gilbert Imbula Wanga (born 12 September 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. Born in Belgium, Imbula played youth football for France, before changing international allegiance to the DR Congo national football team.
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Imbula with Marseille in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gilbert Imbula Wanga | ||
| Date of birth | 12 September 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Vilvoorde, Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | 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, correct as of 3 February 2024 | |||
Imbula began his career with French club Guingamp, where he progressed from the youth teams to make his professional debut in October 2009. He helped Guingamp to promotion from the Championnat National in 2010–11. He established himself as a key member of the Guingamp team in Ligue 2 and one of the stand out players in the division which saw him win the Ligue 2 Player of the Year Award. This prompted Ligue 1 side Marseille to sign Imbula for a fee of €7 million.
He spent two seasons at the Stade Vélodrome before joining Portuguese side Porto 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 poor 2016–17 season and was sent on loan to Ligue 1 side Toulouse in 2017–18, La Liga side Rayo Vallecano in 2018–19 and Serie A side Lecce in 2019–20.