Born in Chêne-Bougeries, Switzerland, Mbabu started his career at Servette and progressed through the youth team.
At the start of the 2012–13 season, he was promoted to the first team and appeared in number of matches for the side.[3] He made his professional debut as a 66th-minute substitute for Servette in a Swiss Super League match against Lausanne-Sport on 26 September 2012, which turned out to be his only appearance for the club.[4]
Newcastle United
After a successful trial at the age of 17, Mbabu signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Newcastle United, moving for an undisclosed fee on 31 January 2013.[5] Upon joining the club, he was immediately assigned to the development squad.[6]
In the second half of the 2012–13 season, Mbabu made his home debut for the development squad on 1 April 2013, in a 2–1 win over Stoke City Development Squad.[7] For the rest of the second half of the 2012–13 season, he quickly impressed for the side and made seven appearances for the development side.[8] The 2013–14 season saw Mbabu appeared in the development squad despite suffering from injuries as the season progressed.[9]
However, in the 2014–15 season, Mbabu was plagued by injuries and affected the first half of the season.[10] On 2 February 2015, Mbabu signed for Scottish Championship club Rangers on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season but he did not play in any games or even make it onto the bench once.[11][12]
At the start of the 2015–16 season, Mbabu recovered from injury and continued to feature in the development squad.[13] With lack of first team opportunities at the club, he was expected to be loaned out.[14] But he called up to the first team by Manager Steve McClaren following an injuries of defenders and made his Newcastle United debut against Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup, coming on as a substitute for Daryl Janmaat on 23 September 2015.[15] Three days later, on 26 September 2015, Mbabu made his full Newcastle debut against Chelsea starting at left-back and the game finished 2–2. His performance against Chelsea was praised by pundits.[16] He then made another start in the league on 3 October 2015, in a 6–1 loss against Manchester City.[17] However, he suffered a hamstring injury shortly after that kept him out throughout October.[18] It wasn't until on 7 November 2015 when he returned as a late substitute, in a 1–0 win against Bournemouth.[19] Two months later, on 9 January 2016, Mbabu returned to the first team in the third round of FA Cup against Watford, where he started and played 52 minutes before being substituted, in a 1–0 loss.[20] Following this, he missed the rest of the season after suffering injuries on two occasions.[21] However, Mbabu went on to make 5 appearances in all competitions, as Newcastle United were relegated from the Premier League after six seasons there.[22] At the end of the 2015–16 season, Mbabu signed a two–year contract with the club.[23] Two years after his departure, Mbabu reflected on his time at Newcastle United.[24]
Young Boys
Mbabu training for Young Boys ahead of a match against Dynamo Kiev on 19 October 2017.
However, Mbabu's start of his Young Boys saw him appear on the substitute bench in the first two months there.[26] It wasn't until on 2 October 2016 when he made his Young Boys debut, coming on as a late substitute, in a 2–2 draw against FC St. Gallen.[27] Several weeks later, on 23 October 2016, Mbabu made his first start and played the whole game, in a 4–0 win over Grasshopper.[28] Three days later, on 26 October 2016, Mbabu scored his first goal for the club in the last 16 of Swiss Cup, in a 5–0 win over Grasshoppers.[29] After missing one match in late–October, he was sent–off in a follow–up match on 3 November 2016, in a 1–0 loss against APOEL in the Group Stage of the UEFA Europa League.[30] Mbabu then scored his first league goal for the club a month later on 3 December 2016, in a 3–1 win over FC Basel.[31] Following this, Mbabu continued to establish himself in the starting eleven, playing in the right–back position for the number of matches.[32] Despite being suspended on three occasions later in the season,[33] Mbabu went on to make 24 appearances and scoring 2 times in all competitions.[34] At the end of the 2016–17 season, Mbabu signed a permanent contract with the club.[35] It was reported that he signed a three–year contract with the club, as Newcastle United agreed to sell him.[36]
In the 2017–18 season, Mbabu started the season well when he started the match and helped the side beat regaining Champions side FC Basel 2–0 in the opening game of the season.[37] He then helped the side keep three more clean sheets in the next two matches against Grasshoppers, Dynamo Kyiv and Lausanne-Sport.[38] He continued to establish himself in the starting eleven for the side, playing in the right–back position.[39] His performance became recognised that there were calls for him to be called up by the national team squad.[40][41] He then scored his first goal of the season on 1 October 2017, as well as, setting up one of the goals, in a 6–1 win over FC St. Gallen.[42] Between the three matches on 29 October 2017 and 19 November 2017, Mbabu set up three goals in three separate matches against FC Sion, Basel and FC Zürich.[43] After missing one game through suspension, Mbabu scored on his return on 10 December 2017, in a 1–1 draw against Grasshoppers.[44] By the conclusion of the first half of the season, the club became a title contender, having been at the top of the table.[45] At the SFL Award Night 2017, Mbabu were among several players to be named Team of the Year.[46] From 17 December 2017 and 17 March 2018, he was involved in the team that saw the side go eight matches winning streak in the league.[47] During the streak, Mbabu was later chosen Player of the Month for this display.[48] Despite suffering two injuries later in the season,[49] Mbabu, nevertheless, was part of the Young Boys squad that won the 2017–18 Swiss Super League, their first league title for 32 years.[50]
Wolfsburg
On 25 April 2019, Mbabu signed a four-year contract with VfL Wolfsburg, with the player joining the club in July ahead of the 2019–20 season.[51] Mbabu opted to wear the No.19 shirt for Wolfsburg in honour of Junior Malanda who died following a car accident in northern Germany on 10 January 2015.
On 25 July 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, it was reported that a COVID-19 test Mbabu had taken on 22 July had returned positive.[52][53][54][55] Mbabu was placed in quarantine at home, and would likely miss a scheduled game on 5 August in Kyiv that had been postponed due to the pandemic.[52] As a precaution, testing was carried out on the athletes before they resumed training, and all other tests carried out on 22 July and 25 July had returned negative.[52]
Fulham
On 27 July 2022, Mbabu joined newly promoted Premier League club Fulham for a reported fee of €5.5 million with and additional €2 million in add-ons,[56] on a three-year deal, with the option to extend for a further twelve months. "Kevin is a player whom we've pursued for several years. He brings great physical tools to our Club in addition to his vast experience," said club owner Tony Khan.[57]
Loan to Servette
On 13 February, Mbabu returned to his youth club Servette FC on loan for the remainder of the 2022–23 season.[58]
Due to his mixed descent, Mbabu was eligible to play for Switzerland, DR Congo and France.[60][61] He was a youth international for Switzerland, from the under–16 to under–21 side.[62]
Senior career
In May 2018, Mbabu was named in the Switzerland's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[63] However, he was cut from the squad after Switzerland's preliminary squad was cut to 26.[64] He made his debut on 8 September 2018, in the starting lineup against the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League match against Iceland. In May 2019, he played in 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, where his team finished 4th.[65]
Born in Chêne-Bougeries, Switzerland, to a Congolese mother and a French father, Mbabu has two sisters (one of which is his step–sister) and one brother. However, Mbabu revealed that he never met his biological father and when his mother was remarried, his Austrian step–father raised him and played a role of introducing him to football.[60] As he was introduced to football, he played in the forward position before switching to the defender position.[68]
Alongside his native French, Mbabu reportedly speaks English and German (though he acknowledged the difficulty of the language).[69][41]
BSC Young Boys are a Swiss professional sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won seventeen Swiss league championships and eight Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup in the 1958–59 season. The club's colours are yellow of a golden shade and black.
Servette FC is a Swiss professional football club based in Geneva, founded in March 1890 with rugby as its first sporting activity, and named after the Geneva district of the same name. The football section was created on 17 January 1900. They play in the Swiss Super League.
The Super League is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season. As of March 2024, the Swiss Super League is ranked 12th in Europe according to UEFA's ranking of league coefficients, which is based upon Swiss team performances in European competitions. The 2023–24 season will be the 127th season of the Swiss top-flight, making it the longest continuously running top-flight national league.
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