Mario Lemina

Mario Lemina
Personal information
Full name Mario Lemina
Date of birth (1993-09-01) 1 September 1993
Place of birth Libreville, Gabon
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Playing position Central midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Juventus
Number 18
Youth career
2005–2013 Lorient
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2012–2013 Lorient 18 (0)
2013–2016 Marseille 46 (2)
2015–2016 → Juventus (loan) 9 (2)
2016– Juventus 0 (0)
National team‡
2013 France U20 6 (0)
2013 France U21 1 (0)
2015– Gabon 5 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 April 2016.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 March 2016

Mario Lemina (French pronunciation: ​[maʁjo ləmina]; born 1 September 1993 in Libreville) is a Gabonese professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Italian club Juventus and the Gabon national football team.

Club career

Early career with Lorient

Lemina began his career in France with the Lorient youth academy at the age of 11; he was later promoted to the first team during the 2012–13 season, his only season with the club.[2]

Marseille

The following season, Marseille acquired Lemina for €4 million, although he initially struggled to gain playing time in his first year with the club, making only eight league starts during the 2013–14 season. He began to be used more frequently by manager Marcelo Bielsa during the 2014–15 season, making his breakthrough with the club, as he helped the team to a fourth-place finish, earning 23 appearances in the league.[2] In February 2015, Lemina was sent off for a punch to the groin of Ola Toivonen in a 1–1 Ligue 1 away draw against Rennes.[3]

Juventus

During the summer of 2015, Lemina began to attract the attention of several clubs, including Liverpool, Southampton, and West Ham United.[2] On 31 August the last day of the transfer window, however, Juventus announced the signing of Mario Lemina on a season-long loan from Marseille for €0.5M with an option to buy for €9.5 million at the end of the 2015–16 season.[4] On 26 September 2015, Lemina scored his first goal for Juventus in his third appearance in the 63rd minute of a 2–1 away loss to Napoli.[5]

On 29 April 2016, Lemina's loan would be made permanent, signing a four year deal from Marseille for a fee of €9.5 million plus an extra €1 million if performance related targets are met, keeping him at Juventus until 2020.[6]

International career

Lemina had been called by the Gabon national football team to participate in the 2015 African Cup of Nations but he refused his call-up.[7] Although he had initially represented France's under-20 and under-21 sides,[8] also winning the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup at youth level, he formally switched to the Gabonese Federation on June 2, and is now a formal member of the Gabon national team.[9] He scored on his international debut, in a 3–3 friendly draw against Tunisia on 9 October 2015.[2][10]

International goals

Scores and results list Gabon's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 9 October 2015 Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès, Tunisia  Tunisia 3–2 3–3 Friendly

Style of play

A strong, hard-working, and dynamic right-footed midfielder, with solid technique and distribution, Lemina is a box-to-box player, who is capable of starting attacking plays after winning back possession. Due to his tactical versatility, he is capable of playing in several positions, and has been deployed as a winger, as a full-back, or as a wing-back, on the right flank; during his time with Marseille, he also played as centre-back in a three-man defence on occasion, during the 2014–15 season, under manager Marcelo Bielsa.[2][11][12][13] Despite his talent, he has also earned a reputation for having a temper and for lacking concentration at times.[2]

Honours

Club

Juventus[14][15]

International

France U-20[9][14]

References

  1. ↑ "Mario Lemina". juventus.com. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Greg Lea (14 October 2015). "Mario Lemina: Juve’s hot-headed loanee who Liverpool wanted this summer". Four Four Two. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "Lemina could face action after groin punch". Four Four Two. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Alec Fenn (31 August 2015). "Juventus confirm Lemina medical". Goal.com. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  5. ↑ Gianluca Monti (26 September 2015). "Napoli-Juventus 2-1: Insigne e Higuain inguaiano Allegri. Lemina, gol inutile" [Napoli-Juventus 2-1: Insigne and Higuain get Allegri in trouble. Lemina, futile goal] (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Lemina signs four-year Juventus deal". juventus.com. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Lemina refuse la sélection" (in French). lequipe.fr. 28 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Mario Lemina joins Juventus on loan as Mauricio Isla, Paolo De Ceglie go to OM". ESPN FC. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  9. 1 2 Oluwashina Okeleji (10 September 2015). "Mario Lemina: France U20 World Cup winner chooses Gabon". BBC Sport.com. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  10. ↑ Alberto Dolfin (10 October 2015). "Juve, non solo infortuni dalle Nazionali: primo gol di Lemina col Gabon" [Juve, not only injured internationals: Lemina's first goal with Gabon] (in Italian). La Stampa. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  11. ↑ Pasquale Guardascione (28 August 2015). "Luigi Romano, intermediario per Lemina, promette: «Centrocampista di classe e grinta, vuole l’azzurro»" [Lugii Romano, an intermediary for Lemina, promises: "A classy and tenacious midfielder, he wants the azzurri shirt"] (in Italian). Il Mattino. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Antonio Giordano (29 August 2015). "Napoli, Soriano-Lemina: le scelte a centrocampo" [Napoli, Soriano-Lemina: the choices in midfield]. Il Corriere dello Sport. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  13. ↑ Antonio Giordano (28 August 2015). "Assalto Napoli: Lemina o Vecino a centrocampo" [Napoli assalt: Lemina or Vecino in midfield] (in Italian). Il Corriere dello Sport. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  14. 1 2 "M. Lemina". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "Meet the history makers". Juventus.com. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.