Jean-Philippe Gbamin

Floating on a boat! The man from Côte d'Ivoire seems to enjoy the calm blue waters of the ocean to the hustle and bustle of the streets.

Born in San Pédro, Côte d’Ivoire, his youth career began in France with the academies of US Sain-Quentin Blessy and Aire-sur-la-Lys, before the eventual completion of his development with RC Lens. After impressive showings for Lens B, the midfielder was given his opportunity with the first-team. His debut on 10 May 2013, was a crushing 7-0 defeat at the hands of Guingamp. The 2013/14 Ligue 2 campaign saw the Ivorian cement his place in Lens’ starting eleven. Scoring on his full-debut in a 4-1 win over Auxerre, the midfielder made further 29 league appearances in the heart of Lens’ midfield, helping Sang et Or achieve promotion to Ligue 1. On 13 July 2016, 2 games short of 100 appearances for RC Lens, the midfielder signed for German Bundesliga club FSV Mainz 05 on a five-year contract. Over the course of the next three seasons he was a regular fixture at the base of Mainz’s midfield, totalling 95 appearances, 3 goals and 4 assists. In the summer of 2019, Premier League club Everton tied Côte d’Ivoire’s midfield enforcer to a five-year deal for a fee of £25 million. He made his debut on 8 August 2019, as The Toffees played out a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace.