Sky Sports claim Xavier Mbuyamba linked to Celtic; player and club history

A report from Sky Sports has said that Celtic are interested in Dutch central defender Xavier Mbuyamba. The report claims Celtic are ‘looking into’ signing the former Dutch u19 international and it seems they face competition from English Premier League side, Wolves.

But who is Xavier Mbuyamba?

He is currently playing for FC Volendam in the Eredivisie. He has made 28 appearances this season, scoring an impressive five goals. Volendam currently sit in 14th place in the league just five points clear of the drop zone.

The youngster has already had an eventful career. He started his footballing life at Dutch Second Division side MVV Maastricht in 2018 where he became the club’s youngest-ever player to make a first-team appearance.

After 11 appearances, Mbuyamba was picked up by Barcelona. The Catalan giants beat Celtic and Chelsea to his signature in 2019. He made three appearances for the Barca u19s in the UEFA Youth League but never made a first-team appearance for the La Liga side. But he did make a match-day squad with a place on the bench against SD Ejea in January 2020. [Transfermarkt]

The following summer, he joined Chelsea on a free transfer after being released by Barcelona. He signed a three contract with the English club. [Football London]

He made no first-team appearances for Chelsea but did enjoy a full season in the u21s where Mbuyamba made 33 appearances, scoring three goals. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious knee injury which kept him out for eight months.

After two seasons in London, he then moved back to Holland where he joined his current side FC Volendam for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal. [Chelsea FC]

He has represented Holland at u19 level on only one occasion in a 3-3 draw with Mexico back in November 2019.

And it seems that his current form may have convinced Celtic to revisit the young man as a possible transfer target.

For such a young player, Mbuyamba has certainly got around and at 21 years old, he would certainly fit the mould of an Ange Postecoglou-type signing.

With Celtic already having Cameron Carter-Vickers, Carl Starfelt and Yuki Kobayashi in the ranks, Mbuyamba would seem like a development signing as he would most likely be Celtic’s fifth-choice defender behind Stephen Welsh should he join the club.

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