Joseph Paintsil (born 1 February 1998) is a Ghanaian 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

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

and the Ghana national team.

Club career

Tema Youth

Paintsil made his

Ghana Premier League The Ghana Premier League is the top professional association football league in Ghana organized by the Ghana Football Association and formed in 1958 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition which ran from 1933 ...

debut with

Tema Youth Tema Youth Football Club is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Tema, Greater Accra. The club competed in the 2017 Ghanaian Premier League, but got relegated at the end of the season. History Founded in 2005, TYSC are members of t ...

12 February 2017 after the club were promoted from Division One the previous season. He scored 10 goals in 22 games during his only season, before leaving Ghana for Europe during the season's month-long break in August. Paintsil was fifth in the Golden Boot race at the time of his departure, and finished the season joint-eighth, top scorer for Tema.

Ferencvárosi (loan)

On 31 August, Paintsil signed with top Hungarian club

Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...

, playing in the country's top-flight, the NBI. Initially signed on loan, Paintsil had an option with the club to be signed permanently at the end of the season. Paintsil made his debut on 9 September against Vasas, scoring the first goal in a 5–2 win, taking the place of

Rui Pedro Rui Pedro is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Rui Duarte (footballer, born 1978) (born 1978), Portuguese footballer * Rui Pedro (footballer, born 1988), Portuguese footballer * Rui Pedro (footballer, born 1998), Portuguese foot ...

in the lineup. He scored four goals in his first five games, and was a mainstay in the lineup of manager

Thomas Doll Thomas Jens Uwe Doll (born 9 April 1966) is a German professional Association football, football manager and a former Association football, football player. As a player, he played as an attacking midfielder for F.C. Hansa Rostock, BFC Dynamo, Ha ...

. On 2 December, Paintsil scored a goal on the counter-attack against Videoton that showcased his pace and ball control, and would later be voted as the Goal of the Year for 2017 by Hungarian football fans. At the halfway point of the season, Paintsil had six goals and four assists, and was rated by

Nemzeti Sport ''Nemzeti Sport'' (, ) is a Hungarian sports daily. History and profile ''Nemzeti Sport'' was founded in 1903. It is frequently cited by quality English-language media The paper is published in broadsheet format. Between the World War I and Worl ...

as the league's top player. Paintsil split his time starting on the left and in the middle, as a #10. He finished the season with 10 goals in 25 games, good for third on the team and ninth in the league. Ferencváros finished the league in second, and after rumours of a winter transfer that was not allowed to go through by the club, Paintsil left the club after the season.

Genk

On 3 July 2018, Paintsil was unveiled as a player of Belgian club

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

, a few weeks after a contract had been agreed with the club. Paintsil began the season with an injury, missing three league games and four Europa League qualifiers. His debut came on 19 August in the

First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

against

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 ...

, and his full debut came the following week against

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren (SK Beveren) is a Belgian professional association football club based in Beveren, East Flanders. The club is affiliated with the founded number 4068 and has yellow and blue as its colours. The team was founded in 1936 in H ...

. His first goals came when he scored a brace against

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

on 7 October. His continental debut came when Paintsil was used off the bench in both legs of the play-off round against Danish side Brøndby. He came off the bench at half-time against

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsbor ...

on 4 October, replacing Dieumerci Ndongala. After that, he started the remaining four

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

games, scoring in the last two, as Genk won their group. Genk drew

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

in the knockout stage, and Paintsil did not start either leg as Genk were eliminated 4–1 on aggregate. Paintsil also started all three games of Genk's campaign in the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

, which ended in the quarterfinals with a penalty shootout defeat in which Paintsil scored to

Union SG Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (), also known as Union Saint-Gilloise, Union SG or simply Union, is a Belgian professional football club from Brussels based in Forest. Founded in 1897 in the neighbouring Saint-Gilles, the club has played its home ...

. His form in the league was not as strong, and the goals against Gent were his only goals during the regular season. Paintsil scored in the first match of the play-offs, a 3–0 win over

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

on 30 March 2019. His first start in three months came on the final day of the season, after Genk had already clinched their first title in eight seasons. In the league, Paintsil made 25 appearances, scoring three times. Paintsil was on the bench for the club's win in the

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

, but did not enter the game. Following the sale of Leandro Trossard to England in the off-season, Paintsil was given an opportunity to claim the left wing position, and scored his first goal on 17 August against

. He had a run of six games in the team to start the season until leaving the game on 13 September against

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

in the first half with an injury. Paintsil returned after nearly two months out with injury, starting against

Mouscron Mouscron (; Dutch language, Dutch and , ; Picard language, Picard and Walloon language, Walloon: ''Moucron'') is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Belgium, Belgian Hainaut Provinc ...

on 23 November. His Champions League debut came on 2 October against Italian side

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

, receiving the final minutes off the bench. He played twice more in the group stage, including starting the final game against Napoli, as the club were already eliminated from further continental play, impressing in the 4–0 defeat. Paintsil would only make two starts the rest of the season, which was suspended in March due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium The COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Belgium on 4 February 2020, when one of a group of nine Belgians repatriated from Wuhan to Brussels was repor ...

, his spot mostly taken by Théo Bongonda. On 10 September 2020, he transferred to

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 ...

club

MKE Ankaragücü MKE Ankaragücü or fully Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Ankaragücü (), is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Ankara. The football team wears a yellow and navy kit and plays its home matches at Eryaman Stadium following the ...

on loan. He made his debut with a late substitute in a 2–1 home lose against Erzurumspor FK on 13 September 2020. He played one season with the club and scored 11 goals in 33 matches. Returning to Genk, he helped inspire a major title challenge in 2022–23 season that saw Genk denied the title in the 94th minute of their final game against

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 ...

, with

Toby Alderweireld Tobias Albertine Maurits Alderweireld (; born 2 March 1989) is a Belgian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, centre-back. Alderweireld began his professional career at D ...

scoring a last-gasp equaliser to wrest the title away to Antwerp. During that campaign, the Ghanaian scored 17 goals and 12 assists in his 36 league games, the second-most goal contributions across the whole Pro League that season.

LA Galaxy

On 21 February 2024, Paintsil signed a four-year deal with

side

for a reported $9 million transfer fee.

Personal life

Born and raised in Fadama, a suburb of

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, Paintsil models his game after his idol,

Andrés Iniesta Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and spent most of his career at La Liga club Barcelona. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was known ...

. His older brother

Seth Seth, in the Abrahamic religions, was the third son of Adam and Eve. The Hebrew Bible names two of his siblings (although it also states that he had others): his brothers Cain and Abel. According to , Seth was born after Abel's murder by Cain, ...

is also a footballer.

Career statistics

Honours

Genk *

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

: 2018–19 *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

LA Galaxy *

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Western Conference (MLS) The Western Conference is one of Major League Soccer's two conferences, along with the Eastern Conference. The division of the conferences broadly follows the path of the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, with club ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paintsil, Joseph 1998 births Footballers from Accra Living people Ghanaian men's footballers Ghana men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Tema Youth F.C. players Ferencvárosi TC footballers KRC Genk players MKE Ankaragücü footballers LA Galaxy players Designated Players (MLS) Ghana Premier League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Belgian Pro League players Süper Lig players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in the United States 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players Major League Soccer players 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen