Mandela Keita
Personal information
Date of birth (2002-05-10) 10 May 2002
Place of birth Leuven, Belgium
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Antwerp
(on loan from OH Leuven)
Number 27
Youth career
2009–2021 OH Leuven
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021– OH Leuven 27 (0)
2023 → Antwerp (loan) 17 (1)
2023– → Antwerp (loan) 7 (0)
International career‡
2021–2023 Belgium U21 8 (0)
2023– Belgium 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 October 2023

Mandela Keita (born 10 May 2002) is a Belgian professional footballer. He plays as a defensive midfielder for Belgian Pro League club Antwerp, on loan from OH Leuven, and the Belgium national team.[1] Born in Belgium, Keita is of Guinean descent.

Club career

Keita debuted for OH Leuven on 21 March 2021 in the away match against Mechelen.[2] Due to injury and lengthy recovery, Keita spent most of the first half of the 2022–23 season on the bench.

During the winter 2022–23 transfer window, Keita was loaned to Antwerp to get more playing time, with a 10 million Euro buy clause. At Antwerp, Keita played regularly and scored his first professional league goal as Antwerp became league champions for the first time in 66 years.

Keita was selected as part of the Belgium U21 squad for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. He returned to OHL in the summer of 2023, where he had a contract until 2025. Antwerp wanted to continue with Keita and after months of negotiations, and after Keita began appearing in the OH Leuven shirt, he was loaned again to Antwerp on 10 August 2023 for a full season, again with an estimated 7-8 million Euro buy clause.[3]

International career

He represented Guinea at youth international level, having played for the Belgium U21s.[4]

In October 2023, he received his first call-up to the Belgium senior national team for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Austria and Sweden.[5]

Honours

Royal Antwerp

References

  1. ↑ "M. KEITA'". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  2. ↑ "Debuut Keita, terugkeer Tshimanga" [Debut Keita, return Tshimanga]. ohleuven.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  3. ↑ "Mandela Keita naar Antwerp". OHL - Oud-Heverlee Leuven (in Flemish). 8 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  4. ↑ Meersseman, Herman (6 May 2021). "OHL-jeugdproduct Mandela Keita: "Hard werken voor een basisplaats"". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  5. ↑ "Niet Arthur Vermeeren, wel Mandela Keita is de grote verrassing in selectie Rode Duivels" [No Arthur Vermeeren, but Mandela Keita is the big surprise in the selection of the Red Devils]. sporza.be (in Dutch). Sporza. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.


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