Eric Ayuk Mbu (born February 17, 1997) is a Cameroonian

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.

Club career

Youth

Ayuk played football while attending Lycée Bilingue de Yaoundé in his native

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. In June 2012, he moved to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

as part of a program to introduce young Camaroonian players to a professional environment. Joining

Buriram United Buriram United Football Club () is a Thai professional football club based in Buriram. The club has played at the top level of Thai football for the majority of their existence and competes in the Thai League 1. The club was founded in 1970 as P ...

Thai Premier League The Thai League (, pronounced as ') or Thai League 1 (, pronounced as '), often referred to as T1, is the highest level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai L ...

and playing with its academy and reserve teams for the rest of 2012 and 2013.

Club

Surin City F.C.

Ayuk joined Surin City F.C., an affiliate of

at the start of its 2014 season in the 2014 Thai Division 2 League North Eastern Region, the third level of

Thai football league system Cup eligibility Being members of a league at a particular level also affects the eligibility for Cup competitions. * Thai FA Cup: Levels 1 to 5 * Thai League Cup: Levels 1 to 3 * Thai League 3 Cup: Level 3 Current system Former system Befo ...

. His first game with the team was a qualifying game in the

2014 Thai League Cup The Thai League Cup is a knock-out football tournament played in Thai sport. Some games are played as a single match, others are played as two-legged contests. The 2014 Thai League Cup kicked off on 1 February 2014 with the Bangkok & field reg ...

– a 2–1 loss to Loei City F.C. on January 29, 2014. He made his league debut on February 16, 2014, in a 2–2 tie against Sisaket United F.C. His first goal was the game-winning goal on February 22, 2014, in a 1–0 win over Mahasarakham United F.C. He also scored against Nong Khai F.C. in a 2–2 draw on March 29, 2014, and another in a 4–1 win over Chaiyaphum United on April 26, 2014.

Phichit F.C.

On June 19, 2014, Ayuk joined Phichit F.C. in the

2014 Thai Division 2 League Northern Region 2014 Regional League Division 2 Northern Region is the sixth season of the League competition since its establishment in 2009. It is in the third tier of the Thai football league system. Changes from last season Team changes Promoted clubs Chi ...

. He made his debut on June 28, 2014, in a 3–2 win over Chiangrai F.C. Ayuk's first goal came in a 5–0 win over Tak F.C. on July 6, 2014. On August 11, 2014, Ayuk scored against Uttaradit F.C. in his team's 4–1 victory. He added another goal on August 30, 2014, in his team's 4–3 defeat to Phrae United F.C. On September 7, 2014, Ayuk had his first 2-goal game in a 7–0 victory over Phayao F.C. He also scored in his team's lone goal in a 2–1 loss to Nakhon Sawan F.C. on September 13, 2014. Ayuk's performances helped Phichit F.C. gain promotion to the

Thai Division 1 League Thai League 2 (), commonly known as the T2, formally called Thai Division 1 League, is the second-tier professional league in the Thai football league system. Seasons typically run from August to May, with each team playing 34 games : two agai ...

for the 2015 season after placing in 2nd place in its

2014 Regional League Division 2 The 2014 Regional League Division 2 (also known as the Advanced Info Service, AIS League Division 2 for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th season of the Regional League Division 2, it had redirected from the division 2, since its establishment in 20 ...

Champions League group. During the group games, he scored in Phichit F.C.'s 4–0 Champions Leaguevictory over Hua Hin City F.C. on November 22, 2014.

Philadelphia Union

Ayuk was signed by

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

on March 3, 2015, after a successful pre-season trial. He was signed on a free transfer. He scored his first goal in a 4–1 loss to

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

on April 25, 2015.

Bethlehem Steel FC

Ayuk was loaned to

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

affiliate,

Bethlehem Steel FC Philadelphia Union II is an American professional soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. ...

for the 2016 season. Ayuk would be a regular starter for Steel FC and scored the first home goal in the team's history against

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

. he would go on to make 17 appearances and scored three goals during the season.

Jönköpings Södra IF

On April 4, it was announced that Ayuk had joined Swedish first division outfit

Jönköpings Södra IF Jönköpings Södra IF, also known as J-Södra IF, or J-Södra, is a Swedish football club based in Jönköping. The club, founded in 1922, returned to the Swedish second division Superettan in 2018 after relegation from the 2017 Allsvenskan. J ...

on loan for the rest of the 2017 Allsvenskan Season. He would make 12 league appearances and one cup appearance in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, scoring one goal.

Return to Philadelphia

In December 2017, it was announced that the Union exercised Ayuk's 2018 contract option.

Ankaraspor

On 28 August 2018, Ayuk was transferred

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...

side

Ankaraspor Sincan Belediyesi Ankaraspor Kulübü, commonly known as Ankaraspor (), is a Turkish professional football club based in the country's capital Ankara. Founded in 1978, the club competes in the TFF Second League. The club was known as Osmanlıspor ...

(named "Osmanlıspor" at the time of transfer) for no fee but included a 15-percent sell-on fee for the Union. Ayuk became a regular starter for Ankaraspor, starting 27 of 29 appearances and scoring 5 goals during his first season.

Adanaspor

In July 2023, Ayuk signed for

Adanaspor Adanaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Adana; currently, they play in the TFF First League. The club was founded in 1954 by middle-class merchants and artisans in response to their perceived ali ...

following a short spell with

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League (), also known as the Nile League () for sponsorship reasons, after the addition of title sponsor Nile Developments, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the highest level of the Egyptian football ...

club Pharco.

International career

In April 2015, Ayuk was called into the Cameroon U-23 team for the 2015 CAF U-23 Championship but declined the call up to focus on his club career with the

. In May 2016, Ayuk was called up for the Cameroon U-20 team for their 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualifier versus Zimbabwe.

Career Statistics

Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayuk, Eric 1997 births Footballers from Yaoundé Living people Cameroonian men's footballers 21st-century Cameroonian sportsmen Cameroon men's under-20 international footballers Cameroon men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders

Eric Ayuk Eric Ayuk Mbu (born February 17, 1997) is a Cameroonian footballer who plays as a winger. Club career Youth Ayuk played football while attending Lycée Bilingue de Yaoundé in his native Cameroon. In June 2012, he moved to Thailand as part of ...

Philadelphia Union players Penn FC players Philadelphia Union II players Jönköpings Södra IF players Ankaraspor footballers Pharco FC players Adanaspor footballers Major League Soccer players USL Championship players Allsvenskan players TFF 1. Lig players Egyptian Premier League players Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Egypt Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Egypt