Malachi Kofi Owusu Agyeman Boateng (born 5 July 2002) is an English

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 for side

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He came through the youth academy of

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

, and has previously played for Scottish Club Heart of Midlothian and had loan spells at Queen's Park and

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Early life

Boateng was born in England and has Ghanaian heritage. He is the brother of former Crystal Palace academy footballer

Hiram Boateng Hiram Kojo Kwarteng Boateng (born 8 January 1996) is a British professional footballer who plays as a midfielder, most recently for club Mansfield Town. Club career Crystal Palace Born in Wandsworth, Boateng joined the academy of Crystal Palac ...

Career

Crystal Palace

Boateng joined the

youth system at the age of 11, signing his first professional contract with the Eagles in October 2019. He won both the Under-18 and Under-23 player of the season awards during his time in the youth teams, and made three appearances for the Under 21 team in the

2021–22 EFL Trophy The 2021–22 EFL Trophy, known as the Papa Johns Trophy for sponsorship reasons, the 41st season in the history of the competition, was a knock-out tournament for clubs in EFL League One and League Two, the third and fourth tiers of the English ...

. He traveled with the first-team squad on their pre-season tour to Singapore and Australia in advance of the 2022–23 season, making two appearances as substitute.

Queen's Park (loan)

Boateng joined

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

side Queen's Park on loan for the 2022–23 season on 12 August 2022. He made his professional debut by starting for Queens Park in a 3–2 victory over

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

Ochilview Park Ochilview Park is a association football, football stadium in Stenhousemuir in the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area of Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Stenhousemuir F.C., Stenhousemuir. The stadium has a c ...

a day later. Boateng enjoyed a very strong season with the ''Spiders'', helping the small side come close to winning the league, and would end the season being named to

PFA Scotland The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland (PFA Scotland) is the association for professional footballers in Scotland. It was known as the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association (SPFA), but that organisation was dissolved and repl ...

's Scottish Championship Team of the Year. He was also named as both the committee's and the supporters' Queen's Park Player of the Year at the end of the season.

Dundee (loan)

On 18 July 2023, Boateng joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club

on a season-long loan. He would make his competitive debut later that same day in an away

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

group stage win against

Bonnyrigg Rose Bonnyrigg Rose Football Club is a Scottish football club from the town of Bonnyrigg. Formed in 1881 and nicknamed ''the Rose'', the team plays in the , having been relegated in 2024–25. Their home ground is New Dundas Park, and they have ...

. Boateng had a successful season with Dundee, making 36 total appearances and helping the club finish in the top six of the

2023–24 Scottish Premiership The 2023–24 Scottish Premiership (known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football, and the 127th edition overall of the top national league ...

before returning to his parent club.

Heart of Midlothian

On 3 August 2024, Boateng joined

club Heart of Midlothian on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for Hearts on the same day, coming on as a substitute in the league opener against

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

Plymouth Argyle

On 3 February 2025, Malachi signed for English club

on a three and half-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Boateng made his debut on 9 February, coming on as a substitute in a memorable

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

victory over

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boateng, Malachi Living people 2002 births English people of Ghanaian descent Sportspeople of Ghanaian descent English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Scottish Professional Football League players Crystal Palace F.C. players Queen's Park F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century English sportsmen