Mustapha Bundu

Mustapha Bundu

Bundu in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Mustapha Bundu Shlong Hames
Date of birth	(1997-02-28) 28 February 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth	Freetown, Sierra Leone
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Plymouth Argyle
Number	15
Youth career
	Craig Bellamy Academy
	Hartpury College
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015	Newquay	1	(2)
2015–2016	Hereford	17	(17)
2016–2020	AGF	101	(17)
2020–2023	Anderlecht	10	(0)
2021	→ Copenhagen (loan)	14	(1)
2021–2022	→ AGF (loan)	22	(3)
2022–2023	→ Andorra (loan)	28	(3)
2023–	Plymouth Argyle	25	(3)
International career‡
2019–	Sierra Leone	14	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:54, 25 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:54, 14 September 2023 (UTC)

Mustapha Bundu Shong Hames (born 28 February 1997) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle and the Sierra Leone national team. ^[1]

Born in Freetown, Bundu started playing youth football for the Craig Bellamy Academy before moving to the United Kingdom to play for Hartpury College. He then went on to appear for lower league sides Newquay and Hereford. In 2016, Bundu signed for Danish Superliga club AGF after a successful trial. After growing out to become an important player for the first team, he transferred to Anderlecht in 2020. He signed with Plymouth Argyle in 2023.

After multiple call-ups for the Sierra Leone national team without making an appearance, Bundu made his international debut as a substitute on 4 September 2019, in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Liberia. ^[2]

Club career

Early career

As a native of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Bundu spent his youth football playing in the now defunct Craig Bellamy Academy, before obtaining a student visa to study at Hartpury College to further pursue his football career. ^[3]

He graduated from Hartpury College in 2016, ^[4] scoring 18 goals in six outings in the English Schools' FA Cup. ^[5]

Hereford

Whilst visiting a friend, he made a single appearance for Newquay on 23 August 2015, in a 2–2 draw against Ivybridge Town in the South West Peninsula League, netting two goals in less than 30 minutes as a substitute. ^[6] Newquay manager Sash Wheatman acclaimed him as "the best player he's had the privilege of watching at this level of football", adding "it was like bringing on Ronaldo on or Gareth Bale – he was streets ahead". ^[5]

Bundu spent a season at newly-formed Midland League Premier Division club Hereford, winning three trophies and reaching the 2016 FA Vase final at Wembley Stadium, where he featured as a substitute. Work authorisation restrictions only allowed him to ply his trade at a club no higher than step five of the English non-league pyramid, the ninth tier overall in the English football league system, which forced him to leave Hereford as they had been promoted to step four (tier eight). He returned briefly to spectate one of their games, a 6–0 defeat of Bridgwater Town in the Southern League Division One South & West. ^[7]

AGF

Bundu went on a trial with Danish Superliga club AGF in early August 2016. ^[8] After a successful trial, he signed a contract with the club on 31 August 2016. ^[9]

In an away defeat to Brøndby IF, he made his Superliga debut as a substitute on 23 October 2016. He came on the pitch in the 78th minute, replacing Martin Spelmann. ^[10] In December 2016, Bundu extended his contract until 2021. ^[11]

Bundu had his breakout season in 2019–20, scoring eight goals in the first 20 league matches of the season, ^[1] and being named Superliga Player of the Month for September 2019. ^[12] He finished the season with 10 goals in 30 total appearances, as he helped AGF finish in third place in the Superliga-table; the club's first top-three finish in 23 years. ^[13] Bundu's season would, however, be hampered in the last month by contracting COVID-19 which kept him out for the last few games of the season. ^{[14] [15]}

Anderlecht

On 7 August 2020, Bundu joined Belgian club Anderlecht on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, believed to be between DKK 25–30 million, making him the most expensive sale in the history of AGF. ^{[16] [14]}

Playing only nine games for Anderlecht, Bundu decided to go out on loan and returned to Denmark, signing a loan deal with Copenhagen for the rest of the season with an option to buy. ^[17] On 1 September 2021, Bundu returned to AGF on loan for the rest of the season. ^[18]

On 1 September 2022, Bundu joined Segunda División club FC Andorra on a one-year loan deal, making his debut in a 1–1 draw against Mirandés. ^[19] While at Andorra, he became their first foreign player to receive an international call-up, ^[20] while also winning the 2022–23 Copa Catalunya. ^[21]

Plymouth Argyle

On 1 September 2023, deadline day of England's summer transfer window, Bundu returned to England, signing a two-year deal with EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle. ^[22] His visa application meant he could not enter the UK until 13 September, the day after which he trained for the first time at his new club. ^[23] He made his debut for the club on 23 September as an 87th-minute substitute in a 6–2 EFL Championship victory over Norwich City, and assisted a 97th-minute goal. ^[24] He scored his first goal in his first league start for the club on 25 October, a first-half free-kick in a 3–0 win against Sheffield Wednesday. ^[25]

International career

Bundu received his first international call-up for Sierra Leone in August 2018, being included in a 35-man provisional squad for a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ethiopia. ^[26] However, he did not make the final 23-man squad. ^[27] He made his debut in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier match against Liberia on 4 September 2019, which ended in a 3–1 defeat. ^[28] He scored his first goal for his country on 13 November 2020, in a 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Nigeria. ^[29]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 20 April 2024 ^[1]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Newquay	2015–16	South West Peninsula League	1	2	—		—		—		1	2
Hereford	2015–16	Midland League Premier Division	17	17	—		—		11 [lower-alpha 2]	7	28	24
AGF	2016–17	Danish Superliga	12	1	2	0	—		—		14	1
	2017–18	Danish Superliga	31	4	2	2	—		—		33	6
	2018–19	Danish Superliga	31	4	1	0	—		—		32	4
	2019–20	Danish Superliga	27	8	3	2	—		—		30	10
	Total		101	17	8	4	—		—		109	21
Anderlecht	2020–21	Belgian First Division A	9	0	0	0	—		—		9	0
	2021–22	Belgian First Division A	1	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 3]	0	—		2	0
	Total		10	0	0	0	1	0	—		11	0
Copenhagen (loan)	2020–21	Danish Superliga	14	1	—		—		—		14	1
AGF (loan)	2021–22	Danish Superliga	22	3	1	0	—		—		23	3
Andorra (loan)	2022–23	Segunda División	28	3	1	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 4]	0	31	3
Plymouth Argyle	2023–24	EFL Championship	25	3	1	0	—		—		26	3
Career total			218	46	11	4	1	0	13	7	243	57

1. Includes Danish Cup, Copa del Rey, FA Cup
2. Eight appearances, five goals in FA Vase; three appearances, two goals in Midland Football League Cup
3. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa Conference League
4. Appearance(s) in Copa Catalunya

International

As of match played 18 June 2023 ^[30]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sierra Leone	2019	3	0
	2020	2	1
	2021	2	0
	2022	4	0
	2023	3	2
Total		14	3

Sierra Leone score listed first, score column indicates score after each Bundu goal ^[30]

List of international goals scored by Mustapha Bundu

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	13 November 2020	Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, Nigeria	4	Nigeria	3–4	4–4	2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2	22 March 2023	Stade Adrar, Agadir, Morocco	12	São Tomé and Príncipe	1–1	2–2	2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3	18 June 2023	Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, Paynesville, Liberia	14	Nigeria	1–2	2–3	2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Individual

• Superliga Player of the Month: September 2019 ^[12]

References

1. Mustapha Bundu at Soccerway. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
2. "Liberia 3-1 Sierra Leone (Sep 4, 2019) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
3. "Mustapha Bundu's journey from war-torn Sierra Leone to Wembley - The Set Pieces". thesetpieces.com. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
4. "Mustapha Bundu - Hudl". hudl.com. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
5. "Hartpury College striking sensation Mustapha Bundu shoots for the Premier League | Xtratimewest". Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
6. "Town held by Cornish". Dartmouth Chronicle. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
7. "VIDEO: Bundu on what playing for Hereford FC meant for him". Hereford Times. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
8. AGF tester angriber‚ bold.dk, 2 August 2016
9. AGF skriver med Bundu‚ bold.dk, 31 August 2016
10. "Football Sierra Leone | Mustapha Bundu makes first AGF Aarhus appearance in away defeat". footballsierraleone.net. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
11. AGF forlænger med fire mand‚ bold.dk, 5 December 2016
12. Nøhr, Mikkel (6 October 2019). "Mustapha Bundu er månedens SL-spiller". bold.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 1 December 2020.
13. "AGF får bronze trods nederlag til Brøndby". dr.dk. Danmarks Radio. 26 July 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
14. Calcoen, Pieter-Jan (7 August 2020). "Bundu, met de B van Bellamy, tekent voor vier jaar: nieuwste Anderlecht-aanwinst op z'n 17de op negende niveau in Engeland". hln.be. Het Laatste Nieuws . Retrieved 8 August 2020.
15. Leer Scharnberg, Martin; Højris Schmidt, Lasse; Messer, Anders Keld (22 July 2020). "AGF-angriber testet positiv for corona: Ude resten af sæsonen". dr.dk. Danmarks Radio . Retrieved 8 August 2020.
16. Elkjær, Kenneth (7 August 2020). "Officielt: Bundu er solgt i historisk stor handel". tv2ostjylland.dk. TV 2/Østjylland . Retrieved 8 August 2020.
17. BUNDU KLAR FOR F.C. KØBENHAVN, fck.dk, 26 January 2021
18. BUNDU VENDER HJEM TIL AGF Archived 26 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine , agf.dk, 31 August 2021
19. "Mustapha Bundu, una bala per a l'atac tricolor" [Mustapha Bundu, a bullet to the tricolour attack] (in Catalan). FC Andorra. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
20. "Bundu, called up for Sierra Leone national team". FC Andorra. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
21. Suelves, Marc Bernad (15 February 2023). "Bakis sale al rescate del Andorra y le da la Copa Catalunya". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 September 2023.
22. "Argyle sign Sierra Leone striker from Anderlecht". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
23. Errington, Chris (14 September 2023). "Mustapha Bundu takes part in first Argyle training session". PlymouthLive. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
24. "Plymouth hit six in impressive win over Norwich". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
25. Pilnick, Brent (25 October 2023). "Plymouth inflict more pain on struggling Wednesday". BBC Sport . Retrieved 26 October 2023.
26. Barrie, Mohamed Fajah (24 August 2018). "Bellamy academy graduate Mustapha Bundu gets Sierra Leone call-up". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
27. Barrie, Mohamed Fajah (28 August 2018). "Sierra Leone coach explains Bellamy graduate Bundu's absence". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
28. "Landsholdsdebut til Mustapha Bundu - AGF Fodbold". www.agf.dk. Archived from the original on 14 October 2019.
29. Gleeson, Mark (13 November 2020). "Sierra Leone stage four-goal comeback to hold Nigeria". Reuters. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
30. "Mustapha Bundu". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 14 September 2023.