Mario Lemina

Mario René Junior Lemina (French pronunciation: ​[maʁjo ləmina]; born 1 September 1993) is a Gabonese professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Southampton and the Gabon national team. He played for French sides Lorient and Marseille, before joining Italian side Juventus in 2015, where he won the domestic double in both of his seasons with the club. He joined Premier League side Southampton in 2017, and was later loaned out to Turkish club Galatasaray in 2019.

Mario Lemina
Lemina training with Lorient in 2013
Personal information
Full name Mario René Junior Lemina[1]
Date of birth (1993-09-01) 1 September 1993[2]
Place of birth Libreville, Gabon
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[3]
Playing position(s) Central midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Southampton
Youth career
2005–2013 Lorient
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Lorient 14 (0)
2013–2015 Marseille 41 (2)
2015–2017 Juventus 29 (3)
2017– Southampton 46 (2)
2019–2020 → Galatasaray (loan) 20 (0)
National team‡
2013 France U20 6 (0)
2013 France U21 1 (0)
2015– Gabon 18 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 June 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2019

A former French international at youth level, Lemina went on to represent Gabon at senior level, making his senior international debut in 2017, and later represented the latter nation at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

Club career

Early career with Lorient

Lemina began his career in France with the Lorient youth academy at the age of 11; he was later promoted to the first team during the 2012–13 season, his only season with the club.[4]

Marseille

The following season, Marseille acquired Lemina for €4 million, although he initially struggled to gain playing time in his first year with the club, making only eight league starts during the 2013–14 season. He began to be used more frequently by manager Marcelo Bielsa during the 2014–15 season, making his breakthrough with the club, as he helped the team to a fourth-place finish, earning 23 appearances in the league.[4] In February 2015, Lemina was sent off for a punch to the groin of Ola Toivonen in a 1–1 Ligue 1 away draw against Rennes.[5]

Juventus

During the summer of 2015, Lemina began to attract the attention of several clubs, including Premier League clubs Liverpool, Southampton and West Ham United.[4] On 31 August, however, the last day of the transfer window, Juventus announced the signing of Lemina on a season-long loan for €500,000 with an option to buy for €9.5 million at the end of the 2015–16 season.[6] On 26 September 2015, he scored his first goal for Juventus in his third appearance, coming in the 63rd minute of a 2–1 away loss to Napoli.[7]

On 29 April 2016, Lemina's loan was made permanent; he signed a four-year deal from Marseille for a fee of €9.5 million plus an extra €1 million if performance related targets are met. The deal was scheduled to keep him at Juventus until 2020.[8] On 21 May, Lemina started in the Coppa Italia Final, playing the full match as Juventus defeated A.C. Milan 1–0 after extra time to capture the domestic double for the second consecutive season.[9]

Southampton

On 8 August 2017, Lemina joined Southampton on a five-year deal for a club record fee of £15.4m.[10][11] He made his debut on 20 August, in a 3–2 victory over West Ham United.[12] His first goal for Southampton came in a 3–2 victory over fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion on 3 February.[13]

International career

Lemina had been called by the Gabon national team to participate in the 2015 African Cup of Nations, but he refused his call-up.[14] Although he had initially represented France's under-20 and under-21 sides,[15] also winning the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup at youth level, he formally switched to the Gabonese Federation on 2 June, and is now a formal member of the Gabon national team.[16] He scored on his international debut, in a 3–3 friendly draw against Tunisia on 9 October 2015.[4][17] Lemina took part at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, which was held on home soil.[18] He started in Gabon's opening match of the tournament on 14 January – a 1–1 draw against Guinea-Bissau[19] – but later suffered a back-injury, however, which ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament.[20]

Style of play

A strong, powerful, hard-working, and dynamic right-footed midfielder, with good technical skills and solid distribution, Lemina is a box-to-box player who is usually deployed in the centre, due to his ability to start attacking plays after winning back possession. Described as a "classy and tenacious midfielder," due to his tactical versatility, he is capable of playing in several positions, and has been deployed as a winger, as a full-back, or as a wing-back, on the right flank; during his time with Marseille, he also played as centre-back in a three-man defence on occasion, during the 2014–15 season, under manager Marcelo Bielsa. He also been deployed as a playmaker on occasion.[4][21][22][23][24][25] Despite his talent, he has also earned a reputation for having a temper and for lacking concentration at times.[4]

Career statistics

Club
As of 28 June 2020[26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup1 Continental Other2 Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lorient 2012–13 Ligue 1 10040——140
2013–14 4000——40
Total 140400000180
Marseille 2013–14 Ligue 1 1403040—210
2014–15 23220——252
2015–16 400000—40
Total 412504000502
Juventus 2015–16 Serie A 102201000132
2016–17 191207010291
Total 293408010423
Southampton 2017–18[27] Premier League 25140——291
2018–19[28] 21120——231
Total 46260——522
Galatasaray (loan) 2019–20[29] Süper Lig 200414000281
Career total 1377231160101758

1 Includes Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue and Coppa Italia matches.
2 Includes Trophée des Champions and Supercoppa Italiana matches.

International
Scores and results list Gabon's goal tally first.[30]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.9 October 2015Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès, Tunisia Tunisia2–33–3Friendly
2.15 November 2016Stade El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia Comoros1–11–1
3.5 September 2017Stade Bouaké, Bouaké, Ivory Coast Ivory Coast2–02–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Juventus[31][32]

France U20

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References
  1. "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  2. "Mario Lemina: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  3. "Mario Lemina: Biography". Southampton F.C. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  4. Greg Lea (14 October 2015). "Mario Lemina: Juve's hot-headed loanee who Liverpool wanted this summer". Four Four Two. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  5. "Lemina could face action after groin punch". Four Four Two. 7 February 2015. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  6. Alec Fenn (31 August 2015). "Juventus confirm Lemina medical". Goal.com. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  7. Gianluca Monti (26 September 2015). "Napoli-Juventus 2-1: Insigne e Higuain inguaiano Allegri. Lemina, gol inutile" [Napoli-Juventus 2-1: Insigne and Higuain get Allegri in trouble. Lemina, futile goal] (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  8. "Lemina signs four-year Juventus deal". juventus.com. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  9. "Coppa Italia: Morata in extra time". Football Italia. 21 May 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  10. "Mario Lemina: Southampton sign Juventus midfielder for £15.4m". BBC Sport. 8 August 2017.
  11. "Saints seal Lemina deal". Southampton F.C. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  12. Chapman, Caroline (19 August 2017). "Southampton 3–2 West Ham United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  13. Henry, Matthew (3 February 2018). "West Bromwich Albion 2–3 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  14. "Lemina refuse la sélection" (in French). lequipe.fr. 28 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  15. "Mario Lemina joins Juventus on loan as Mauricio Isla, Paolo De Ceglie go to OM". ESPN FC. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  16. Oluwashina Okeleji (10 September 2015). "Mario Lemina: France U20 World Cup winner chooses Gabon". BBC Sport.com. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  17. Alberto Dolfin (10 October 2015). "Juve, non solo infortuni dalle Nazionali: primo gol di Lemina col Gabon" [Juve, not only injured internationals: Lemina's first goal with Gabon] (in Italian). La Stampa. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  18. "Aubameyang leads cast as hosts Gabon name final Nations Cup squad". bbc.com. 27 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  19. "Gabon 1–1 Guinea-Bassau". BBC Sport. 14 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  20. "Afcon 2017: Gabon's Mario Lemina ruled out of tournament". BBC Sport. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  21. Pasquale Guardascione (28 August 2015). "Luigi Romano, intermediario per Lemina, promette: "Centrocampista di classe e grinta, vuole l'azzurro"" [Lugii Romano, an intermediary for Lemina, promises: "A classy and tenacious midfielder, he wants the azzurri shirt"] (in Italian). Il Mattino. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  22. Antonio Giordano (29 August 2015). "Napoli, Soriano-Lemina: le scelte a centrocampo" [Napoli, Soriano-Lemina: the choices in midfield]. Il Corriere dello Sport. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  23. Antonio Giordano (28 August 2015). "Assalto Napoli: Lemina o Vecino a centrocampo" [Napoli assalt: Lemina or Vecino in midfield] (in Italian). Il Corriere dello Sport. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  24. Van Genechten, Vincent (10 September 2016). "Juventus make like MJ". Football Italia. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  25. Prince-Wright, Joe (9 July 2019). "Man United, Arsenal battle for Mario Lemina". NBC Sports. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  26. "M. Lemina". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  27. "Games played by Mario Lemina in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  28. "Games played by Mario Lemina in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  29. "Games played by Mario Lemina in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  30. "Lemina, Mario". National Football Teams. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  31. "M. Lemina". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  32. "Meet the history makers". Juventus F.C. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.

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