Mouhamadou Habib Habibou (born 16 April 1987) is a Central African 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 striker.

Club career

Early career

Habibou started his career with Ligue 1 club

Paris Saint Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. With 52 major trophies ...

progressing through the youth setup. After failing to break into the first team he moved to Belgian club

R. Charleroi S.C. Royal Charleroi Sporting Club, often simply known as Charleroi or Sporting Charleroi, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Charleroi, in the province of Hainaut. Charleroi plays in the Belgian Pro League. Their current ...

During his spell at Charleroi he joined

Tubize Tubize (; ) is a municipality and city of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On January 1, 2006 Tubize had a total population of 22,335. The total area is 32.66 km2 which gives a population density of 684 inhabita ...

on loan in 2007 scoring 10 goals in just 13 appearances, his form led to him earning a loan move to Romanian side Steaua București in 2008.

Zulte Waregem

In 2010, Habibou joined fellow Belgian side

S.V. Zulte Waregem Sportvereniging Zulte Waregem (), commonly known as Zulte Waregem or by their nickname Essevee (), is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Waregem, West Flanders. The club set to play in Belgian Pro League from 2025� ...

from Charleroi. he was given the squad number 7 shirt. In 2011, Habibou joined English side

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

on trial, In December 2011 he also had a trial spell at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, however he stayed at Zulte Waregem. After scoring six goals in 13 games in the first half of the 2012–13 season, Habibou interested Premier League side

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

and joined them on trial, also training with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. After QPR signed French international striker

Loïc Rémy Loïc Alex Teliére Hubert Rémy (born 2 January 1987) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. Rémy began his career playing for a local youth club in his home city of Lyon, before joining the biggest club in the c ...

the move for Habibou was put on the backburner as he edged closer to a move. With Leeds striker

Luciano Becchio Luciano Héctor Becchio (born 28 December 1983) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the assistant manager of Segunda División B – Group 3 side CD Atlético Baleares.transfer deadline day In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new clu ...

, Habibou completed his move to

on a six-month loan with the option to make the move permanent. Habibou made his debut as a second-half substitute in Leeds' 1–0 defeat against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

on 2 February. Habibou's only start came in Leeds' Yorkshire Derby against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

. On 3 May, Leeds announced that they would not be making Habibou's loan deal permanent.

Later career

On 1 September 2014, transfer deadline day, Habibou joined

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

on a three-year deal. After 26 appearances and 3 goals in his first season with Rennes, Habibou departed in January 2016 to join

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

team

Gaziantepspor Gaziantepspor was a Turkish football club located in the city of Gaziantep. Formed in 1969 and dissolved in 2020, Gaziantepspor were nicknamed the ''Şahinler'' (The Falcons). The club colours were black and red, and they played their home matc ...

on loan. He played nine times but failed to score for the Gaziantep-based club before returning to Rennes. A year later, in January 2017, Habibou joined

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

side

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

on a two-year contract.

International career

Habibou was called up to the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

for 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

on 14 October 2012. He made his debut in an AFCON qualifying 4–1 loss to

DR Congo national football team The DR Congo national football team ( French: ''Équipe nationale de football de la République démocratique du Congo''), recognised by FIFA as Congo DR, represents the Democratic Republic of the Congo in men's international football and it i ...

on 4 September 2016.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Central African Republic's goal tally first.''

Trivia

In 2010, during a Zulte Waregem game against

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

, Habibou grabbed and threw a duck over advertising hoardings because it had wandered onto the field.

References

External links