Eliaquim Mangala

On 9 November, he made his professional debut as an 89th-minute substitute in a 3–1 victory over Germinal Beerschot.

Eliaquim Hans Mangala (born 13 February 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Primeira Liga club Estoril.

He acquired French nationality on 5 December 1995, through the collective effect of his mother's naturalization.

He moved to Belgium at the age of five to live in the French-speaking city of Namur.

At the same age, he joined local club Athletic Club Lustin as a youth player and spent six years at the club before moving to CS Wépionnais in nearby Wépion.

After two years in Wépion, Mangala joined the biggest club in the city, UR Namur, and quickly impressed.

While at Namur, Mangala was utilised as a striker and his positive displays at youth level led to interest from Standard Liège.

In 2007, Mangala and Standard reached an agreement on a three-year youth contract.

Mangala joined Standard Liège and, upon his arrival, was converted into a left back and inserted into the club's under-17 team for the 2007–08 season.

Mangala's admirable play with the team led to the player being promoted to Standard's under-19 team in January 2008, where he again switched positions, this time moving into central defence.

During his time with the under-19 team, Mangala made the bench several times for Standard's under-21 team, despite being only 17 years old.

For the 2008–09 season, Mangala was given the opportunity to train and play with the first team.

On 23 October 2008, he signed his first professional contract, agreeing to a five-year deal with the club.

Mangala was officially promoted to the senior team and assigned the number 22 shirt.

He made another late appearance against Gent before earning his first career league start against Dender on 17 January 2009.

In the match, Mangala provided the assist on the opening goal scored by Milan Jovanović in the 3rd minute of play.

Standard won the match 3–2 with Mangala playing the entire match.

He finished the season with 11 league appearances as Standard Liège were crowned champions.

He also appeared in UEFA Cup matches against Italian club Sampdoria, German club Stuttgart, and Portuguese team Sporting CP, starting the match against the latter.

Mangala was inserted as a starter for the 2009–10 season making his debut in the club's 2–0 victory over Genk in the Belgian Supercup on 25 July 2009.

On 12 September, Mangala scored his first professional goal in a league match against Mechelen in a 3–0 victory.

Four days later, Mangala scored another goal against English club Arsenal in the club's opening UEFA Champions League group stage match.

Mangala scored the goal in the 3rd minute and Standard striker Jovanović scored two minutes later to put Standard Liège up 2–0, however, the club went on to lose the match 3–2 following three unanswered goals from the English team.

In what proved to be his final league match for Standard, Mangala converted a Steven Defour free-kick to give his team a 1–0 lead over KRC Genk at half-time, but striker Kennedy Ugoala Nwanganga earned a 1–1 draw for Genk, securing the league title by just half a point over Standard.

Born in France, he moved to Belgium as a child and began his career there at Standard Liège, going onto Porto in 2011 where he won consecutive Primeira Liga titles before joining Manchester City in 2014 for £32 million.

In his final appearance for the club on 21 May 2011, Mangala scored Standard's first goal in their 2–0 victory over K.V.C. Westerlo in the final of the Belgian Cup, ending an 18-year cup drought.

Mangala joined reigning Europa League champions Porto on 16 August 2011.

The deal also included Porto signing his Standard teammate Steven Defour in a combined deal that totalled £11.4 million.

He played his first season with Porto as a substitute behind the likes of Rolando, Maicon and Nicolás Otamendi.

He made his first appearance in the 2012–13 season for Porto in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira against Académica on 11 August 2012, playing the full 90 minutes as Porto won the pre-season title with a 1–0 win.

Mangala made his debut with the France national team on 6 June 2013 against Uruguay.

He made his first-team breakthrough with Porto that season, becoming the first-choice centre back and scoring four league goals, one of which was in a 2–2 draw with Benfica on 13 January 2013.

Mangala featured in Porto's 2–0 win over Paços de Ferreira on 19 May 2013, leading the club to an undefeated season and a third-straight league title, by just one point over rivals Benfica.

He was included in the nation's squads for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016, making a substitute appearance in the latter.

Mangala was born in the northwestern Parisian suburb of Colombes to Congolese parents.

In the January 2014 transfer window, Manchester City made an offer for Mangala and his teammate Fernando, but abandoned interest when Porto held out for £50 million.

On 23 February, he was sent off for a reckless challenge inside the area and Porto fell to a 1–0 defeat to Estoril as Evandro converted the spot kick.

In Porto's Europa League Round of 16-second leg against Eintracht Frankfurt four days later, Mangala scored two goals, both from headers, as Porto battled back from 2–0 down to draw 3–3 and secure passage to the quarter-finals on away goals.

On 3 April, he headed in the game's only goal as Porto defeated Sevilla in the first-leg of that round.

He played 79 matches for City, won the Premier League in 2017–18, and had loans at Valencia and Everton, before joining the former on a free transfer in 2019.