Jules Olivier Ntcham (born 9 February 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Süper Lig club Samsunspor. Born in France, he plays for the Cameroon national team.

Olivier Ntcham
Ntcham playing for Celtic in 2018
Personal information
Full name Jules Olivier Ntcham[1]
Date of birth (1996-02-09) 9 February 1996 (age 28)[2]
Place of birth Longjumeau, France
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
Samsunspor
Number 10
Youth career
2004–2005 Chennevières-sur-Marne
2005–2008 US Ormesson
2008–2009 VGA Saint-Maur
2009–2010 Paris FC
2010–2012 Le Havre AC
2012–2015 Manchester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Manchester City 0 (0)
2015–2017Genoa (loan) 37 (3)
2017–2021 Celtic 87 (13)
2021Marseille (loan) 4 (0)
2021–2023 Swansea City 78 (12)
2023— Samsunspor 39 (11)
International career
2011–2012 France U16 19 (5)
2012–2013 France U17 8 (0)
2014 France U18 2 (1)
2014 France U19 5 (0)
2015–2016 France U20 2 (0)
2017–2019 France U21 20 (1)
2022– Cameroon 9 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 November 2023

Ntcham was born in Longjumeau, a southern suburb of Paris, and played for numerous youth clubs in and around Paris before joining youth academies at Paris FC and Le Havre. In 2012, at the age of 16, Ntcham joined Manchester City's Elite Development Squad for £730,000.[3] Developing under City's Football Development Executive Patrick Vieira, Ntcham's potential was noticed by club manager Manuel Pellegrini, who included him on City's pre-season tour of Australia in 2015.

After signing a professional contract with City, Ntcham was loaned out for a two season spell at Genoa in Italy's Serie A, with an option to buy later.[4] In July 2017, Ntcham signed for Scottish Premiership side Celtic on a four-year permanent deal. He signed a contract extension with the Glasgow club in November 2018, extending his stay until 2022.[5] In February 2021, Ntcham was loaned out to French club Marseille.[6] Ntcham joined Swansea City in September 2021.

Internationally, Ntcham has represented France at numerous levels, most recently the France national under-21 football team at the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[7]

Club career

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Manchester City

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Ntcham signed for Manchester City in 2012, joining from French club Le Havre for a fee in the region of €1m, after refusing to sign a professional contract at the club.[8] In July 2015, he signed a five-year deal with Manchester City, before joining Italian side Genoa on a two-year loan.[9]

Loan to Genoa

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On 28 August 2015, Serie A side Genoa signed Ntcham on a two-year loan with an option to buy.[10][11][12] He made his debut for the club on 23 August 2015, in a 1–0 defeat to Palermo.[13] His second match was marked with a 2–0 win against Hellas Verona.[14][15]

Ntcham's first goal for Genoa came in the opening game of his second season, during a 3–1 win over Cagliari on 21 August 2016.[16] He scored his second goal on 26 February 2017, in stoppage time, rescuing a 1–1 draw with Bologna.[17]

Celtic

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On 12 July 2017, Ntcham signed a four-year contract with Celtic.[18] He scored his first goal for Celtic in a 1–0 win against Partick Thistle on 11 August 2017.[19] On 9 November 2018, at the age of 22, he signed a new four-year contract to keep him at Celtic until the year 2022.[20]

Ntcham scored the winning goal against Lazio in the Europa League on 7 November 2019, giving Celtic a historic 2–1 victory as their first ever win in Italy.[21]

Loan to Marseille

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On 1 February 2021, Ntcham joined French side Marseille on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.[22] Manager André Villas-Boas, who had informed the Marseille board that he didn't want the player, offered his resignation the following day in response to Ntcham joining and was suspended as manager a few hours later for publicly criticising the club's board.[23] On 10 February 2021, he made his debut for Marseille as a substitute for Valentin Rongier in a 2–0 away win over AJ Auxerre in the Coupe de France.[24] On 10 February 2021, he made his league debut as a substitute for Michaël Cuisance in a 0–0 away draw against Bordeaux.[25]

Swansea City

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On 1 September 2021, Ntcham joined Championship club Swansea City on a free transfer.[26] He scored his first goal for Swansea in a 3–3 draw with Luton Town on 18 September 2021.[27]

Samsunspor

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On 7 August 2023, Ntcham joined Turkish Süper Lig side Samsunspor.[28]

International career

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Ntcham was born in France to parents of Cameroonian descent.[29] He was a youth international for France at various levels.[30]

In November 2019, he was placed on standby for Cameroon's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Cape Verde and Rwanda.[31] He debuted with the Cameroon national team in a friendly 2–0 loss to Uzbekistan on 23 September 2022.[32]

On November 10, 2022, he was selected by Rigobert Song to compete in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[33]

On 28 December 2023, he was selected from the list of 27 Cameroonian players selected to compete in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Career statistics

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As of match played 26 October 2024[34]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Genoa (loan) 2015–16[35] Serie A 17 0 1 0 18 0
2016–17[36] Serie A 20 3 3 0 23 3
Total 37 3 4 0 41 3
Celtic 2017–18[37] Scottish Premiership 30 5 5 3 2 0 11[c] 1 48 9
2018–19[38] Scottish Premiership 20 3 1 0 4 0 12[d] 3 37 6
2019–20[39] Scottish Premiership 23 4 2 1 2 2 11[e] 1 38 8
2020–21[40] Scottish Premiership 14 1 0 0 0 0 9[f] 0 23 1
Total 87 13 8 4 8 2 43 5 146 24
Marseille (loan) 2020–21 Ligue 1 4 0 2 0 6 0
Swansea City 2021–22 Championship 37 4 1 0 0 0 38 4
2022–23 Championship 41 8 2 0 1 0 42 7
Total 78 12 3 0 1 0 80 11
Samsunspor 2023–24 Süper Lig 27 6 0 0 27 6
2024–25 Süper Lig 10 4 0 0 10 4
Total 37 10 0 0 37 10
Career total 243 37 19 4 9 2 43 5 310 47
  1. ^ Includes Coppa Italia, Scottish Cup, Coupe de France, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes Scottish League Cup, EFL Cup
  3. ^ Nine appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Six appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  6. ^ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

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Celtic

References

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  1. ^ "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/07/2017 and 31/07/2017". The Football Association. p. 26. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Olivier Ntcham: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  3. ^ Newman, Blair (28 September 2015). "Olivier Ntcham: Man City's long-term answer to Toure who's thriving in Serie A". Four Four Two. Four Four Two. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  4. ^ Jackson, Jamie; Romano, Fabrizio (23 September 2015). "Do Manchester City already have a new Paul Pogba in Olivier Ntcham?". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Olivier Ntcham signs contract extension with Celtic". www.heraldscotland.com. Herald Scotland. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Celtic transfer news: Olivier Ntcham joins Marseille on loan". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Celtic star Olivier Ntcham called up for France U21s Euro squad along with Moussa Dembele". www.dailyrecord.co.uk. Daily Record. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  8. ^ Jamie Jackson (23 September 2015). "Do Manchester City already have a new Paul Pogba in Olivier Ntcham?". the Guardian.
  9. ^ Meyers, Alex (31 July 2015). "Olivier Ntcham joins Genoa on loan". Sports Mole. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  10. ^ Stuart Brennan (8 September 2015). "Man City watching impressive Olivier Ntcham's progress at Genoa carefully". men.
  11. ^ "Genoa complete deal for Man City midfielder Olivier Ntcham – Tribal Football". Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  12. ^ "Manchester City confirm loan moves for Stevan Jovetic, Olivier Ntcham and Enes Unal". August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  13. ^ "Palermo vs. Genoa – 23 August 2015 – Soccerway". soccerway.com.
  14. ^ "Genoa vs. Hellas Verona – 30 August 2015 – Soccerway". soccerway.com.
  15. ^ "Result: Genoa too strong for Hellas Verona". Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  16. ^ "Genoa 3–1 Cagliari report". ESPN FC. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  17. ^ "Five things we learned in Italy Serie A". Ahram Online. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  18. ^ "Celtic delighted to sign highly-rated Olivier Ntcham on 4-year deal". Celtic. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  19. ^ "Partick 0–1 Celtic". BBC. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  20. ^ "Celtic delighted as Olivier Ntcham signs new four-year deal". celtic. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  21. ^ Media, P. A. (7 November 2019). "Olivier Ntcham's late show at Lazio fires Celtic into Europa League last 32". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  22. ^ "Olivier Ntcham is an Olympian". Olympique de Marseille. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  23. ^ "André Villas-Boas sacked by Marseille after Ntcham signing criticism". The Guardian. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  24. ^ "AJ Auxerre 0-2 Marseille". ESPN. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  25. ^ "Bordeaux 0-0 Marseille". ESPN. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  26. ^ "OLIVIER NTCHAM JOINS SWANSEA CITY". swanseacity.com. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  27. ^ "Luton 3-3 Swansea". BBC. 18 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  28. ^ "Swans confirm Ntcham exit - after Samsunspor debut". BBC Sport. 14 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  29. ^ "FOOT : le conte de fées de Olivier Ntcham". 29 November 2012.
  30. ^ "Celtic pair Moussa Dembele and Olivier Ntcham star in France Under-21 win". Daily Record. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  31. ^ "Celtic's Ntcham set to switch international allegiance". stv.tv. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  32. ^ "Highlights and goals: Cameroon 0–2 Uzbekistan in international friendly | 09/23/2022". VAVEL. 23 September 2022.
  33. ^ "Le Cameroun avec Onana, Anguissa et Choupo-Moting à la Coupe du monde". L'équipe (in French). 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  34. ^ "Olivier Ntcham Soccerway Profile". Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  35. ^ "Games played by Oliver Ntcham in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  36. ^ "Games played by Oliver Ntcham in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  37. ^ "Games played by Oliver Ntcham in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  38. ^ "Games played by Oliver Ntcham in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  39. ^ "Games played by Oliver Ntcham in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  40. ^ "Games played by Oliver Ntcham in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  41. ^ "Celtic secured an eighth consecutive title in style with a convincing win away to wasteful Aberdeen". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  42. ^ "Celtic champions & Hearts relegated after SPFL ends season". BBC Sport. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  43. ^ "Rangers 0 – 1 Celtic". BBC Sport. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
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