Charni Ekangamene (born 16 February 1994) is a Belgian

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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Berchem Sport K. Berchem Sport is a Belgian association football club based in the district of Berchem in the municipality of Antwerp and currently playing in the Belgian Division 2. It has formerly played in the First Division. The club was founded in 1906 ...

in the

Belgian Division 2 The Belgian Division 2, commonly referred to as simply Tweede Afdeling (in Dutch) or Division 2 (in French) is the fourth-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below ...

. Born in Antwerp, he began his career with

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club (commonly referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp) is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Antwerp. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Founded in 1 ...

before moving to their English sister club,

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, in 2010. Having failed to break into the first-team, he was loaned to

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

in January 2014, before making a permanent move back to Belgium with Zulte Waregem in July 2014.

Club career

Born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Ekangamene began his career with local club

. As a result of the club's partnership with

, Ekangamene went on trial with the English club twice in late 2008 before agreeing in March 2009 to join them permanently once he turned 16 in February 2010. He made his debut for the Manchester United reserves on 26 April 2010, coming on for Michael Keane in the 76th minute of a 1–0 defeat to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. The following season, he was a regular in the under-18s, making 18 appearances out of a possible 28, as well as appearing three times for the reserves, including one start in the

Manchester Senior Cup The Manchester FA Senior Cup (originally known as the Manchester and District Challenge Cup, later the Manchester Cup) is an annual football tournament held between the clubs of the Manchester Football Association which was first played in 1885; ...

– a 6–1 win over

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

on 3 February 2011. Ekangamene continued in the under-18s the following season, and scored his first goal for Manchester United on 5 November 2011 in a 2–1 win over

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. His only reserve team appearance of the season came in the semi-finals of the

Lancashire Senior Cup The Lancashire County Football Association Cup (commonly known as the Lancashire Senior Cup) is an association football knockout tournament involving teams from Lancashire, England. It is a County Cup competition of the Lancashire County Footbal ...

against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

on 1 May 2012; the match went to a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

after it finished goalless in normal time, and Ekangamene scored the winning penalty with a delicate chip over the diving goalkeeper to put Manchester United through to the final. In 2012–13, Ekangamene graduated to the reserves on a full-time basis, and was again a regular in the side, playing 19 times in all competitions; he also scored his first goal for the reserves on 20 March 2013, getting the opening goal in the 40th minute of a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

. After making 13 appearances in the first half of the 2013–14 season, on 31 January 2014, Ekangamene and teammate Sam Byrne were loaned to

. He made his professional debut the next day, starting the game against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

. Although the loan was due to last until the end of the season, a lack of centre-backs meant Manchester United were forced to recall Ekangamene to play in an unfamiliar position after only a month. After his return, he was ever-present for the under-21s and even scored in their penalty shoot-out defeat by Bolton Wanderers in the quarter-finals of the Lancashire Senior Cup on 17 March 2014. His performances during the season led to a nomination for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award, but he was ultimately beaten in the fan vote by

Saidy Janko Saidy Janko (born 22 October 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Swiss club BSC Young Boys. Born in Switzerland, he played international football for Switzerland up to under-21 level before switching to play for the ...

. On 11 July 2014, Ekangamene left Manchester United to join Belgian club Zulte Waregem on a four-year deal. He made his debut on 17 July, coming on as an 87th-minute substitute for Mamoutou N'Diaye in Zulte Waregem's 2–1 win over Polish side

Zawisza Bydgoszcz Zawisza Bydgoszcz () is a sports club from Bydgoszcz, Poland, founded in 1946. Its name commemorates a legendary Polish 15th-century knight, Zawisza Czarny (Zawisza the Black). The club holds many sections: football, track and field athletics, b ...

in the second qualifying round of the

2014–15 UEFA Europa League The 2014–15 UEFA Europa League was the 44th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the sixth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2015 UEFA Eur ...

. He then made his league debut on 27 July, coming on for

Chuks Aneke Chukwuemeka Ademola Amachi "Chuks" Aneke (born 3 July 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward. He is a free agent. Aneke began his career as a youngster with Arsenal, and spent time on loan with Football League clubs ...

in the 83rd minute of Zulte Waregem's 2–0 derby win over

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

. On 29 January 2019, Ekangamene joined

FK Inter Bratislava FK Inter Bratislava () is a football club based in Bratislava, Slovakia, temporarily playing its home matches in Štadion Pasienky. History Inter Bratislava was founded in 1940 by the Apollo refinery (later renamed Slovnaft). Following the end of ...

in the DOXXbet liga after a trial at the club. After a two-year spell at

CD Marino Club Deportivo Marino Playa de Las Américas, known simply as CD Marino, is a semi-professional Spanish football club based in Playa de Las Américas, Tenerife, in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. Founded in 1933, the club hails ...

, he signed for St Joseph's in August 2021.New Signing: Charni Joins the Blues
St Joseph's F.C. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.

References

External links

Profile
at essevee.be (SV Zulte Waregem) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ekangamene, Charni 1994 births Living people Footballers from Antwerp Belgian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders English Football League players Manchester United F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players SV Zulte Waregem players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players K Beerschot VA players Eerste Divisie players NAC Breda players FC Eindhoven players 2. Liga (Slovakia) players FK Inter Bratislava players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Marino players St Joseph's F.C. players K. Rupel Boom F.C. players K. Berchem Sport players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Belgium men's youth international footballers 21st-century Belgian sportsmen