Willem Davnis Louis Didier Geubbels (born 16 August 2001) is a French 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for Swiss club St. Gallen.

Club career

Lyon

Geubbels started his playing career at

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 ...

's academy. He made his first team debut on 23 September 2017 in a 3–3 home draw against

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 ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

. He entered the field after 84 minutes, replacing Lucas Tousart. In doing so, Geubbels became the first player born in the 21st century to appear in

, as well as the fifth youngest player ever to make a Ligue 1 debut at 16 years, one month and seven days old. On 7 December, Geubbels came on for an injured

Maxwel Cornet Gnaly Albert Maxwel Cornet (born 27 September 1996) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a left winger and full-back for club Genoa, on loan from club West Ham United, and the Ivory Coast national team. He has previously played ...

in the 45+1 minute of a 1–0 away loss to

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. In doing so, Geubbels once again became the first player born in the 21st century to appear in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

as well as the youngest player ever to make a Europa League debut at 16 years and 113 days old.

Monaco

On 19 June 2018, Geubbels signed with

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, ...

for €20 million.

Loan to Nantes

On 31 August 2021, he joined

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

on loan for the 2021–22 season with an option to buy. He scored his first goal for the club on 2 January 2022 in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

against Vitré. Three weeks later, he scored again in a 4–2 league victory over

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 ...

. At the end of the season, marked by ups and downs, he returned to Monaco. During his loan spell, Nantes managed to win the Coupe de France.

St. Gallen

On 23 January 2023, Geubbels signed a 2½-year contract with St. Gallen in Switzerland.

Personal life

Geubbels was born in France to a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

father, and a Central African mother. His uncles, Amos Youga and Kelly Youga, are both footballers who represented the Central African Republic national team.

Career statistics

Honours

Nantes *

: 2021–22

References

External links

Monaco profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geubbels, Willem 2001 births French sportspeople of Central African Republic descent Footballers from Villeurbanne Living people French men's footballers France men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Olympique Lyonnais players AS Monaco FC players FC Nantes players FC St. Gallen players Ligue 1 players French people of Dutch descent French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland French expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland 21st-century French sportsmen