Olivier Ntcham

Jules Olivier Ntcham (born 9 February 1996) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille on loan from Celtic.

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[2]
Place of birth Longjumeau, France
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Marseille
(on loan from Celtic)
Number 8
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)
2015–2017 → Genoa (loan) 37 (3)
2017– Celtic 87 (13)
2021– → Marseille (loan) 0 (0)
National team
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)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:13, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

Born in Longjumeau, a southern suburb of Paris, Ntcham played for numerous youth clubs in and around Paris before joining youth academies at Paris FC and subsequently Le Havre. At the age of 16, Ntcham joined Manchester City's Elite Development Squad for £730,000 in 2012.[3] Developing under City's Football Development Executive Patrick Vieira, Ntcham's potential was noticed by club manager Manuel Pellegrini, who included him 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 with the Glasgow club. He signed a contract extension with Celtic in November 2018, extending his stay until 2022.[5] In February 2021, Ntcham was loaned out to French club Olympique de Marseille.[6]

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

Manchester City

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]

Genoa

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

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 2–1 victory.[21]

Loan to Marseille

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 sacked a few hours later for publically criticising the club's board.[23]

International career

Ntcham was born in France to parents of Cameroonian descent.[24] He is a youth international for France at various levels.[25]

In November 2019, he was placed on standby for Cameroon's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Cape Verde and Rwanda.[26]

Career statistics
As of matches played up to 2 January 2021[27]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe[lower-alpha 3] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Genoa (loan) 2015–16[28] Serie A 17010——180
2016–17[29] Serie A 20330——233
Total 37340——413
Celtic 2017–18[30] Scottish Premiership 3055320111489
2018–19 Scottish Premiership 2031040123376
2019–20 Scottish Premiership 2342122111388
2020–21 Scottish Premiership 141000090231
Total 8713848243515025
Marseille (loan) 2020–21 Ligue 1 0000——00
Career total 120151248243518727
  1. Includes Coppa Italia, Scottish Cup, Coupe de France
  2. Includes Scottish League Cup
  3. Includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League

    Honours

    Celtic

    References
    1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/07/2017 and 31/07/2017" (PDF). The Football Association. p. 26. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
    2. "Olivier Ntcham: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
    3. Newman, Blair. "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. "Do Manchester City already have a new Paul Pogba in Olivier Ntcham?". www.theguardian.com. 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. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
    8. Jamie Jackson. "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". 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. "FOOT : le conte de fées de Olivier Ntcham". 29 November 2012.
    25. "Celtic pair Moussa Dembele and Olivier Ntcham star in France Under-21 win". Daily Record. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
    26. "Celtic's Ntcham set to switch international allegiance". stv.tv. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
    27. "Olivier Ntcham Soccerway Profile". Retrieved 3 June 2016.
    28. "Games played by Oliver Ntcham in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
    29. "Games played by Oliver Ntcham in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
    30. "Games played by Oliver Ntcham in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
    31. "Celtic secured an eighth consecutive title in style with a convincing win away to wasteful Aberdeen". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
    32. "Celtic champions & Hearts relegated after SPFL ends season". BBC Sport. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
    33. "Rangers 0 – 1 Celtic". BBC Sport. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
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