Junior Sambia

Junior Sambia

Sambia with Montpellier in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Salomon Sambia [1] [2]
Date of birth	(1996-09-07) 7 September 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Vaulx-en-Velin, France
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) [3]
Position(s)	Right-back, defensive midfielder, winger
Team information
Current team	Empoli (on loan from Salernitana)
Number	7
Youth career
2003–2011	Lyon
2011–2013	Mâcon
2013–2014	Chamois Niortais
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2018	Chamois Niortais	76	(6)
2017–2018	→ Montpellier (loan)	28	(1)
2015–2016	Chamois Niortais B	5	(0)
2018–2019	Montpellier B	7	(1)
2018–2022	Montpellier	113	(3)
2022–	Salernitana	40	(1)
2024–	→ Empoli (loan)	8	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 February 2025

Salomon Sambia (born 7 September 1996), commonly known as Junior Sambia, ^{[4] [5]} is a French professional footballer who plays for Serie A club Empoli, on loan from Salernitana. He plays predominantly as a right back, but can also play as a defensive midfielder or winger.

Career

Chamois Niortais

Born in Lyon, Sambia joined the youth set-up at Niort from Mâcon in 2013. ^[5] In the summer of 2014, he was awarded a first-team contract alongside fellow youth midfielder Antoine Batisse. ^[5] Sambia made his senior debut for Niort on 12 September 2014 in the 1–0 defeat to Dijon at the age of 18 years and 5 days, becoming the youngest player ever to start a professional match for the club. ^[6] He went on to make five league appearances in total during the 2014–15 season. ^[2]

Montpellier

In August 2017, Sambia joined Montpellier on a one-year loan with an option to buy. ^[7] The option would eventually be exercised at the end of the 2017–18 season. In May 2022, his exit from Montpellier at the end of the 2021–22 season was confirmed. ^[8]

Salernitana

On 19 July 2022, Sambia signed a four-year contract with Salernitana in Italy. ^[9]

On 30 August 2024, Sambia was loaned by Empoli. ^[10]

Personal life

Sambia's parents are from the Central African Republic.^{[ citation needed ]} In April 2020, Sambia was hospitalised after becoming ill and unconscious and was treated in intensive care. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was placed into an artificial coma. ^[11] However, he eventually recovered. ^{[12] [13]}

Career statistics

As of match played 25 May 2024 ^{[2] [ citation needed ]}

Appearance and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Chamois Niortais	2014–15	Ligue 2	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	2015–16	Ligue 2	31	2	4	0	0	0	35	2
	2016–17	Ligue 2	37	4	4	0	1 [a]	0	42	4
	2017–18	Ligue 2	3	0	0	0	1 [a]	0	4	0
	Total		76	6	8	0	2	0	86	6
Chamois Niortais B	2015–16	CFA 2	5	0	—		—		5	0
Montpellier (loan)	2017–18	Ligue 1	28	1	2	1	4 [a]	1	34	3
Montpellier	2018–19	Ligue 1	30	0	1	0	1 [a]	0	32	0
	2019–20	Ligue 1	17	1	3	0	2 [a]	0	22	1
	2020–21	Ligue 1	36	1	5	0	—		41	1
	2021–22	Ligue 1	30	1	3	0	—		33	1
	Total		141	4	14	1	7	1	162	6
Montpellier B	2017–18	National 3	1	0	—		—		1	0
	2018–19	National 3	3	0	—		—		3	0
	2019–20	National 2	3	1	—		—		3	1
			7	1	—		—		7	1
Salernitana	2022–23	Serie A	22	0	0	0	0	0	22	0
	2023–24	Serie A	18	1	2	0	0	0	20	1
	Total		40	1	2	0	0	0	42	1
Career total			269	12	24	1	9	1	302	14

1. Appearance(s) in the Coupe de la Ligue

References

1. "La fiche de Salomon Sambia". LFP.fr. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
2. "Salomon Sambia". foot-national.com. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
3. "Junior Sambia". U.S. Salernitana 1919. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
4. "Junior Sambia". chamoisniortais.fr. Retrieved 23 May 2015.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
5. Philippe Blais (24 July 2014). "Batisse et Sambia: les élèves pros". La Nouvelle République. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
6. Philippe Jounier (19 March 2015). "Ils travaillent dans l'ombre". La Nouvelle République. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
7. Castanheira, Julien (23 August 2017). "Officiel - Junior Sambia rejoint le MHSC". Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 20 April 2021.
8. "Montpellier confirm exits of five senior players including Junior Sambia, Mihailo Ristić & Nicholas Gioacchini". Get French Football News. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
9. "SALOMON JUNIOR SAMBIA È UN NUOVO GIOCATORE DELLA SALERNITANA" (in Italian). Salernitana. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
10. "Junior Sambia è un nuovo calciatore azzurro" [Junior Sambia is a new footballer] (in Italian). Empoli. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
11. Monaghan, Matt. "Why Junior Sambia is most-important footballer in Europe, as big leagues plot returns - Sport360 News". sport360.com. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
12. "Nouvelles rassurantes pour Junior Sambia sorti du coma". midilibre.fr. 25 April 2020.
13. "Montpellier player out of coma, recovering - agent". ESPN.com. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020.

External links

• Junior Sambia at the U.S. Salernitana 1919 website
• Junior Sambia – French league stats at Ligue 1 – also available in French (archived)