Britt Assombalonga

Britt Curtis Assombalonga (born 6 December 1992) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship club Middlesbrough and the DR Congo national team.

"Assombalonga" redirects here. For the father, see Fedor Assombalonga.

Britt Assombalonga
Assombalonga with Nottingham Forest in 2016
Personal information
Full name Britt Curtis Assombalonga[1]
Date of birth (1992-12-06) 6 December 1992[2]
Place of birth Kinshasa, Zaire
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[3]
Playing position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Middlesbrough
Number 9
Youth career
2010–2011 Watford
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Watford 4 (0)
2011–2012 → Wealdstone (loan) 11 (6)
2012 → Braintree Town (loan) 5 (5)
2012–2013 → Southend United (loan) 43 (15)
2013–2014 Peterborough United 43 (23)
2014–2017 Nottingham Forest 65 (30)
2017– Middlesbrough 122 (40)
National team‡
2018– DR Congo 8 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:31, 8 July 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:34, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

Early life

Assambalonga was born in Kinshasa, Zaire and moved to London, England with his family at eight months old.[2][4] He grew up in Swiss Cottage, in the London borough of Camden, and attended Whitefield School. He is the son of Fedor Assombalonga, a former Zaire international footballer.[4] His brother, Christian, is also a footballer for Isthmian Premier Division side Billericay Town.[5]

Club career

Watford
Assombalonga playing for Watford in 2012

Assombalonga began his career with Watford, signing as a 17-year-old youth player in 2010 after making his way through via the Hertswood Impact Scheme. In his first full season in the youth team, he finished as the second top goal scorer while his team made it to the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals.

He also appeared regularly for Watford's reserve team, and was rewarded for his performances with a one-year professional contract at the end of the season. He was an unused substitute for the senior squad's last two games against Preston North End and Queens Park Rangers.[6]

In November 2011, Assombalonga joined Wealdstone alongside youth teammate Connor Smith to gain more playing experience.[7] On 3 December, he scored his first goal in a league match against Concord Rangers. Assombalonga had his loan spell extended for another month on 4 January 2012.[8] Assombalonga returned to Watford on 4 February, having scored 11 goals in 16 games for Wealdstone.

Just days after his return to Watford, Assombalonga was loaned to Braintree Town on a one-month deal. Despite being heavily linked with a permanent move to Scottish club Peterhead, he also signed a one-year contract extension with Watford on the same day.[9] Assombalonga made an eventful debut in a 3–3 draw against Lincoln City; he scored his first goal for the club to put Braintree 3–2 up before being sent off for a second bookable offence.[10] He scored four more goals in four games for Braintree after serving his one-match suspension, and was subsequently recalled by Watford to join their senior squad.[11]

On 17 March 2012, he made his first-team debut in a 0–0 draw with Coventry City. His appearance made him the 50th player to go through Watford's academy and represent the first-team.[12]

At the start of the 2012–13 season, Assombalonga joined League Two club Southend United on an initial one-month loan.[13] On 25 August 2012, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–3 draw against Northampton Town. Assombalonga went on to score five goals in four matches, including a brace in a 3–1 win against Dagenham & Redbridge on 7 September.[14]

At the end of the month, Southend extended the loan deal to run until 3 January 2013.[15] Having established himself in the first team, Assombalonga became the club's top scorer that season with a total of 15 goals.[16] Southend again extended Assombalonga's loan in December 2012, keeping him at the club until the end of the season.[17] He played in the 2013 League Trophy Final against Crewe Alexandra which Southend lost 2–0.[18]

Peterborough United

On 31 July 2013, League One side Peterborough United broke their previous transfer record to sign Assombalonga from Watford on a four-year deal.[19] The fee was undisclosed, but was confirmed as greatly exceeding the club's previous £1.1 million record fee. He was given the number nine shirt. Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony hailed the deal, saying he was "delighted", and that Assombalonga had been Peterborough's main transfer target.[20] On the opening game of the season, he scored on his debut as Peterborough defeated Swindon Town 1–0.[21] He scored a penalty in a 3–1 win over Chesterfield at Wembley in the 2014 Football League Trophy Final.

Nottingham Forest

On 6 August 2014, Assombalonga joined Nottingham Forest on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee reported to be in the region of £5 million, potentially rising to £8 million based on various clauses (of which Watford will receive 50% due to sell-on clauses).[22][23][24] This made Assombalonga Forest's record signing, surpassing the £4.5 million fee paid to Celtic for striker Pierre van Hooijdonk in 1997.[25] Assombalonga scored his first goals for Forest twelve days after signing, netting a brace against Bolton Wanderers at the Macron Stadium.[26] He then scored a goal each in their next two games, against Bournemouth and Reading respectively. Assombalonga scored in his first East Midlands Derby, opening the scoring against Derby County at the City Ground.[27][28] Assombalonga's goal-scoring run continued with his first hat-trick for Forest on 17 September in a 5–3 home victory against Fulham.[29] He then went on to score in the reverse fixture against Derby, equalising at Pride Park as Forest secured a 2–1 win to relieve the pressure on their beleaguered manager Stuart Pearce. On 11 February 2015, Assombalonga sustained a serious knee injury during a 3–0 victory over Wigan Athletic after taking a shot at goal that prematurely ended his season.[30] Assombalonga eventually made his return from injury on 19 April 2016 as an 84th-minute substitute for Robert Tesche in a draw against Blackburn Rovers.[31] On 7 May Assombalonga scored the winner away at MK Dons, his first senior goal since his injury.[32]

On the opening day of the 2016–17 season, Assombalonga started the first competitive match under new manager Philippe Montanier and scored a brace at home against newly promoted Burton Albion.[33] The striker then reaffirmed his commitment to Forest by signing a new five-year contract on 2 September, tying him to the club until 2021.[34] On 19 November, Assombalonga scored a brace against Ipswich Town, his first coming after only 17 seconds, which took his tally to six goals in eight games for the season. After the game, Assombalonga was described as the "best goalscorer in the league" by teammate Ben Osborn and "the best in the business outside of the Premier League" by former Forest defender Kenny Burns.[35][36] Assombalonga missed Forest's next game – a 5–2 win at Barnsley – with a hamstring problem to continue his injury-hit start to the season.[37] Assombalonga ended the season on a high, scoring his second brace against Ipswich Town on the 7 May. With Forest remaining out of the Championship relegation zone by virtue of a one-goal difference with Blackburn Rovers, Assombalonga's brace – one a penalty and the other an exquisite solo effort – either side of a Chris Cohen goal ensured that Forest retained their Championship status at the expense of the Lancashire club.[38] He ended the Championship season as Forest's top goalscorer, having scored 14 goals from 20 starts and 12 substitute appearances.[39]

Middlesbrough

On 17 July 2017, Assombalonga signed for newly relegated Championship club Middlesbrough, for a reported club-record fee of £15 million.[40][41] He scored his first goals for Middlesbrough when he scored twice in a 2–0 win against Burton Albion on 15 August 2017.[42]

International career

Assombalonga was eligible to represent both England and the Democratic Republic of the Congo internationally. In August 2014, he was named on a 37-man provisional DR Congo squad list for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification but withdrew from the final squad.[43][44]

On 4 November 2016, the Nottingham Post reported that Assombalonga had accepted a call-up to the DR Congo national side for their away game against Guinea on 13 November.[45] Assombalonga was forced to pull out of the squad prior to the game as he was not cleared to play in time.[46] That December, Assombalonga rejected the chance to represent DR Congo at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, stating that he wanted to focus on playing games for Nottingham Forest after an injury-hit season.[47]

Assombalonga made his senior debut for DR Congo in a friendly 2–0 loss to Tanzania on 27 March 2018.[48][49]

Career statistics
As of match played 22 July 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Watford 2011–12[50] Championship 400000—40
2012–13[51] Championship 00——0000
Total 4000000040
Wealdstone (loan) 2011–12[52] IL Premier Division 116——5[lower-alpha 1]51611
Braintree Town (loan) 2011–12[50] Conference Premier 55———55
Southend United (loan) 2012–13[51] League Two 431500006[lower-alpha 2]14916
Peterborough United 2013–14[53] League One 432345318[lower-alpha 3]45833
Nottingham Forest 2014–15[54] Championship 29151020—3215
2015–16[55] Championship 410000—41
2016–17[56] Championship 32141000—3314
Total 65302020—6930
Middlesbrough 2017–18[57] Championship 44151000204715
2018–19[58] Championship 42143210004616
2019–20[59] Championship 36110010003711
Total 1224042202013042
Career total 289119107712110331137
  1. Four appearances and three goals in FA Trophy, one appearance and two goals in Middlesex Senior Cup
  2. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  3. Two appearances and one goal in League One play-offs, Six appearances and three goals in Football League Trophy

International goals
Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first.[60]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.30 June 201930 June Stadium, Cairo, Egypt Zimbabwe4–04–02019 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

Peterborough United

Individual

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References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Middlesbrough" (PDF). English Football League. p. 23. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  2. "Britt Assombalonga". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  3. "Britt Assombalonga". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  4. "Britt Assombalonga: Peterborough United forward has split loyalties". BBC Sport. 20 September 2013.
  5. "Transfer: Assombalonga Joins Billericay Town". Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  6. "Watford announce who will be released in the summer". Watford Observer. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  7. Whitbread, Joe (24 November 2011). "Watford pair Connor Smith and Britt Assombalonga have joined Wealdstone on loan". Watford Observer. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  8. "Hornets pair extend loans at Wealdstone". Watford Observer. 4 January 2012. Archived from the original on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  9. "Watford youngster Britt Assombalonga signs new deal before joining Braintree Town on loan". Watford Observer. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  10. "Watford youngster Britt Assombalonga scores one and sees red in Braintree Town debut". Watford Observer. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  11. "Watford recall in-form striker Britt Assombalonga from Braintree Town". Watford Observer. 15 March 2012. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  12. "Watford academy reaches landmark with 50th first-teamer". BBC Sport. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  13. "Loan: Britt joins Shrimpers" Archived 22 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Watford Football Club. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  14. "Southend 3–1 Dagenham & Redbridge". BBC Sport. 7 September 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
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  16. "Southend United duo created mayhem – Paul Sturrock". BBC Sport. 15 October 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
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  18. "Johnstone's Paint Trophy final: Crewe 2–0 Southend". BBC Sport. 7 April 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
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  34. "Britt signs new contract".
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  38. "Forest 3–0 Ipswich". Nottingham Forest Official Site. 7 May 2017.
  39. "Player Statistics". Nottingham Forest Official Site. Archived from the original on 10 February 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  40. "Boro Complete Club Record Signing of Britt Assombalonga". Middlesbrough F.C. 17 July 2017.
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  42. "Middlesbrough 2–0 Burton". BBC. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  43. Gharbi, Sabri (19 August 2014). "CAN 2015 : nouvelle liste de présélectionnés pour la RD Congo" (in French). Star Africa. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  44. "CAN 2015 : encore une liste pour la RD Congo". 2 September 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
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  46. "Paperwork problems halt Nottingham Forest striker Britt Assombalonga's international debut". Nottingham Post. 13 November 2016. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
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  58. "Games played by Britt Assombalonga in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  59. "Games played by Britt Assombalonga in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
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  62. "Luis Suarez: Liverpool striker wins PFA Player of the Year award". BBC Sport. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
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