Lynel Darcy Kitambala (born 26 October 1988) is a French

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 currently plays as a winger for French club

JS Saint-Pierroise Jeunesse Sportive Saint-Pierroise (JSSP) is a French football club from Saint-Pierre, Réunion. Its most notable players are Roger Milla, from the Cameroon national football team and Jean Pierre Papin, from the France national football team. A ...

Personal life

Kitambala was born in

Creil Creil () is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department, northern France. The Creil station is an important railway junction. History Archaeological remains in the area include a Neolithic site as well as a late ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He holds both French and DR Congolese nationalities.

Career

After playing for four other youth clubs in France, Kitambala finished his formation with

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

. After he was named on the bench for Auxerre's six games during 2007–08 season, he made his first team debut in a 0–0 home draw against

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

on 1 November 2008, coming on as a substitute for Dennis Oliech. In July 2009, Kitambala 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 ...

club

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

on a season-long loan deal. On 20 August 2010, Kitambala signed a contract with

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

, for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of €1.5 million. He made his debut at

Stade du Moustoir The Stade du Moustoir - Yves Allainmat, known as the Stade du Moustoir (), is a multi-use stadium in Lorient, France. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of FC Lorient. The stadium can hold up to 18,110 with t ...

on 28 August, and scored the second goal in a 2–0 win over

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. On 25 September, Kitambala scored a goal in the 89th minute against

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, securing a 2–1 victory for Lorient. He ended the season with 8 goals in all competitions. On 31 August 2011, Kitambala signed with

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

for a reported fee of €2.5 million. He made his debut for the club on 10 September, in a 3–1 home loss against

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for

Laurent Batlles Laurent Batlles (born 23 September 1975) is a French former professional footballer, who played as a midfielder, and current manager. Playing career Batlles was born in Nantes. In 1993, he emerged from the Toulouse academy into the senior squad, ...

. He made only nine league starts throughout the season, in contrast to 24 starts he made in the previous season while at Lorient. In an attempt to earn some playing time, Kitambala spent the 2012–13 season on loan in the German 2. Bundesliga, where he played for

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, is a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

. On 14 September 2015, Kitambala signed a two-year contract with Bulgarian side

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

. In February 2019, he moved to Farense.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * * * Living people 1988 births Footballers from Creil French men's footballers French expatriate men's footballers France men's youth international footballers Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Challenger Pro League players Slovak First Football League players Liga Portugal 2 players 2. Bundesliga players AJ Auxerre players Dijon FCO players FC Lorient players AS Saint-Étienne players Dynamo Dresden players PFC Levski Sofia players Royale Union Saint-Gilloise players Apollon Smyrnis F.C. players FK Senica players S.C. Farense players French sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Men's association football forwards Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal French expatriate sportspeople in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria French expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia French expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Black French sportspeople 21st-century French sportsmen {{France-footy-forward-1980s-stub