Steven Stefan Fabrice Mouyokolo (born 24 January 1987) is a French

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who last played for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in 2014 as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Club career

Early career

Mouyokolo was born in

Melun Melun () is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the kilome ...

, France to Congolese parents. He began his senior football career at

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

side

LB Châteauroux La Berrichonne de Châteauroux (), commonly referred to as La Berrichonne or simply Châteauroux, is a Football in France, French association football club based in Châteauroux. The football team is a part of a sports club that consists of seve ...

. He made his way up to the first team in 2006, but never made a first team appearance for the club, and in 2007 he joined fellow Ligue 2 side

FC Gueugnon Football Club Gueugnonnais (commonly called Gueugnon ) is a French association football club based in Gueugnon, Burgundy. The club was formed in 1940 and plays its home matches at the Stade Jean Laville located within the city. The club has ...

. He made 22 first team appearances for his new club, and his impressive displays from central defence earned him a move to

US Boulogne Union Sportive de Boulogne-sur-Mer Côte d'Opale (commonly referred to as US Boulogne or frequently, simply Boulogne) is a French association football club based in the commune of Boulogne-sur-Mer. The club was founded in 1898 and currently pla ...

, also of Ligue 2. The defender made a bright start to the

2008–09 Ligue 2 The Ligue 2 season 2008–09 was the sixty-seventh edition since its establishment, and began on 1 August 2008 and ended on 29 May 2009. The fixtures were announced on 23 May 2008. Promotion and relegation Teams relegated to Ligue 2 *FC Metz, re ...

season, helping his team to second in the table by December. His performances caught the attention of English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

teams

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Hull City

However, it was

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

who agreed a fee with Boulogne for the defender on 30 January 2009, but the transfer would not take place until the summer. Mouyokolo officially signed a four-year deal for his new club on 2 June 2009, after helping his former club to promotion to French Ligue 1 for the first time in their history. He scored to earn a 1–1 draw against eventual champions

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on 2 February 2010, but was part of the team that ended up relegated to

The Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Mouyokolo remained in the

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

when he moved to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

on 18 June 2010 in a four-year deal (with the option of a fifth year) for a fee which was undisclosed but reported in the local media as being £2.5 million. His Wolves debut came in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

tie with

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

at Molineux on 21 September 2010. He struggled to make an impression in his first season, making only seven appearances in all competitions. With opportunities limited at Wolves, in June 2011 Mouyokolo was sent on loan to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

side

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy Soc ...

, with the option to buy the player at the end of the loan. Wolves manager

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He was last in charge of EFL Championship club Cardiff City. McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had ...

said at the time: "We saw huge potential in Steven but he has had injury problems that have limited his opportunities." However, Mouyokolo only managed four appearances for Sochaux in a season marred by injury, including a ruptured cruciate ligament suffered in February 2012, before he returned to Wolves at the end of the season. On 30 January 2013 his contract at Wolves was terminated by mutual consent, making him a

after just seven appearances for the club. Mouyokolo says his injury made him realized how lucky he is a footballer.

Celtic

On 16 July 2013, Mouyokolo signed for

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

champions

, after impressing on trial in a series of pre-season games. Mouyokolo says

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink Johannes Vennegoor of Hesselink (; born 7 November 1978) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He formerly played for the Netherlands national team as a striker. He played for clubs such as the Dutch Eredivisie's FC Twente and PSV, the ...

played a role of helping him join the club. He made his Celtic debut in a 2–0 win against

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. Mouyokolo went on to make his European debut for the club only three days later against Shakhtar Karagandy in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League play off round. Soon his career at Celtic wasn't as he planned when he sustained Achilles tendon after picking up the injury in training. After a six-month out, Mouyokolo returns to first team action, coming on as a late substitute, in a 2–0 victory against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

on 5 April 2014. After an injury stricken season with Celtic, Mouyokolo left the club during the summer transfer window after his one-year contract expired.

References

External links

*
Profile on l'Equipe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mouyokolo, Steven 1987 births Living people French men's footballers French sportspeople of Republic of the Congo descent Men's association football defenders LB Châteauroux players FC Gueugnon players US Boulogne players Hull City A.F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players Celtic F.C. players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland French expatriate men's footballers Scottish Professional Football League players Sportspeople from Melun Footballers from Seine-et-Marne Black French sportspeople