Dereck Germano Kutesa (born 6 December 1997) is a Swiss professional

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 winger for

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

and the Switzerland national team.

Club career

Kutesa played his youth football by

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

and advanced through all the ranks. On 18 October 2013 he signed his first professional contract, a three-year deal, but he remained with their U-21 team. During the 2014–15 season he was called up to their first team and had four appearances with them in the Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football. At the end of the season Servette were second in the table, but they did not obtain a license for the 2015-16 Challenge League season because they did not provide necessary financial documents and guarantees. Servette was therefore relegated to the

Promotion League The Promotion League, named the Hoval Promotion League for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Swiss football league system. Eighteen clubs compete in the league, playing each other twice over course of the season. The champions are prom ...

, the third tier. On 30 December 2015 Kutesa signed for

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

on a three-and-a-half-year contract. He prepared himself for the second half of the season in January with Basel and was loaned back to his regular club Servette until the end of the season. With Kutesa's help they achieved immediate promotion. On 1 July 2016 Kutesa joined Basel's first team for their 2016–17 season under head coach Urs Fischer. After playing in five test games Kutesa played his debut for the club in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

away game in the Herti Allmend Stadion on 18 September 2016 as Basel won 1–0 against Zug 94. He played his domestic league debut for the club in the away game in the

Rheinpark Stadion Rheinpark Stadion (''Rhine Park Stadium'') in Vaduz is the national stadium of Liechtenstein. It plays host to home matches of the Liechtenstein national football team, and is also the home of football club (association football), football club F ...

on 5 March 2017 as Basel played a 1–1 draw with

Vaduz Vaduz (; or ; High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' ...

. Under trainer Urs Fischer Kutesa won the Swiss Super League championship at the end of the 2016–17 season. For the club this was the eighth title in a row and their 20th championship title in total. They also won the

for the twelfth time, which meant they had won the double for the sixth time in the club's history. Kutesa played in two of the cup games. On 14 September 2017, Basel announced that they were loaning out Kutesa to

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (). It is best known for its professional association football, football team, which plays in the Swiss Super League, Super League, the top tier of the ...

, until the end of the 2017–18 Swiss Super League season, so that he could gain more first team playing experience. Following this loan period he returned to Basel. But on 5 July 2018 he transferred to St. Gallen. During his short period with the club, Kutesa played a total of nine games for Basel without scoring a goal. Four of these games were in the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

, three in the

and nine were friendly games. During summer 2018, on 5 July, Kutesa transferred to St. Gallen, where he stayed for just one season, in which he played a total of 45 competitive games for FCSG. In these he scored five goals and made five assists. On 27 August 2019 the club announced that he was transferring to French team

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1931 and plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of football in France. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Auguste Delaune. Reims is one of the mo ...

in the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

. On 25 August 2021, he joined Zulte Waregem in Belgium for a season-long loan. On 30 August 2022, Kutesa returned to

and signed a three-year contract.

International career

Kutesa is of Angolan descent. He participated in the

2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 13th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, an annual football competition between men's under-17 national teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament was hosted for the first time ...

with the

Switzerland national under-17 football team The Switzerland national under-17 football team is the national under-17 football team of Switzerland and is controlled by the Swiss Football Association. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship and the FIFA U-17 World C ...

. He made his debut for the senior Switzerland national team on 26 March 2024 in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Basel *

: 2016–17 *

: 2016–17 Servette *Swiss Cup: 2023–24

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kutesa, Dereck 1997 births Living people Footballers from Geneva Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's youth international footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Switzerland men's international footballers Men's association football wingers Servette FC players FC Basel players FC Luzern players FC St. Gallen players Stade de Reims players S.V. Zulte Waregem players AEK Athens F.C. players Swiss Challenge League players Swiss Super League players Ligue 1 players Belgian Pro League players Championnat National 2 players Super League Greece players Swiss people of Angolan descent Swiss expatriate men's footballers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece 21st-century Swiss sportsmen