Frédéric Nimani

Frédéric Koutou Nimani N'Galou (born 8 October 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as centre forward or winger. Born in France, he played for the France U21 and the Central African Republic senior national team at international level.

Frédéric Nimani
Personal information
Full name Frédéric Koutou Nimani N'Galou[1]
Date of birth (1988-10-08) 8 October 1988
Place of birth Marseille, France
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre forward, winger[2]
Youth career
1995–1998 Burel
1998–1999 Marseille
1999–2001 SO Caillolais
2001–2002 Vivaux Marroniers
2002–2006 Monaco
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2013 Monaco 43 (9)
2007–2008 → Lorient (loan) 2 (0)
2008 → Sedan (loan) 6 (0)
2010 → Burnley (loan) 2 (0)
2010–2011 → Nantes (loan) 0 (0)
2012 → PAOK (loan) 13 (1)
2013 Istres 10 (0)
2013–2014 OFI Crete 3 (0)
2015–2016 Fribourg[3] 18 (6)
2016 Egersunds 24 (12)
2016–2017 Fribourg[3] 4 (0)
2017–2019 Neuchâtel Xamax 19 (2)
2021 Sant Julià 6 (0)
2021–2022 Racing Besançon 8 (1)
2022 Young Fellows Juventus 10 (0)
International career‡
2008–2009 France U21 8 (2)
2018– Central African Republic 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 June 2022
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 08:43, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

Club career

Monaco and loan moves

Born in Marseille, Nimani's spell at AS Monaco began well when he scored on his debut against Auxerre on 9 September 2006. Despite bursting onto the scene at the Stade Louis II in spectacular fashion, he was loaned to Lorient in 2007. However, after a bust-up with Christian Gourcuff in January 2008, he was recalled and loaned to Ligue 2 outfit Sedan for the rest of the season.

On his return to Monaco, he scored the match winner on the first day of the 2008–2009 season against Paris Saint Germain. Nimani went on to register 7 goals in his first full season at Monaco, developing a good partnership with fellow striker Park Chu-Young and keeping the likes of Serge Gakpé and Juan Pablo Pino out of the first team.

Nimani's success attracted the attention of English Premier League and Spanish La Liga teams, most notably Arsenal and Real Madrid.[4] In June 2009, it was reported in the press that Alex McLeish and Tony Mowbray were tracking the French U21 international.[5]

Burnley loan

On 19 January 2010, it was reported that Nimani was set to move to Premier League Club Burnley on loan deal with a further view to buy the player for €4 million.[6] After training with the club he signed on a five-month loan deal on 22 January 2010.[7]

However, Nimani made two appearances for Burnley coming on for Chris Eagles on a 65 minutes in a 1–0 defeat against Bolton Wanderers and he came on as a replacement for David Nugent in Burnley's 5-2 defeat away at Aston Villa, subsequently becoming the first player from the Central African Republic to play in the Premier League. Following Burnley's relegation back to the Championship, after one season in the Premier League, Burnley did not take up a permanent move for Nimani.

Nantes loan

Following his spell in England, Nimani joined French side Nantes on loan again for the rest of the season and never made appearance for Nantes. After AS Monaco's relegation to Ligue 2, Nimani scored his first goal in two years against Troyes in a 1–1 draw on 6 August 2011.[8] Nimani made only made three appearances this season at AS Monaco after falling out with managers Laurent Banide and then Marco Simone.

PAOK loan

On 30 January 2012, Nimani agreed to sign with Greek club PAOK until the end of the season.[9] He signed with PAOK on loan from Monaco with a clause allowing PAOK to make the move permanent at the end of the 2011–2012 season.[10] He was a personal choice of club's coach László Bölöni.[11] Nimani debut for the club in a 2–0 win over OFI Crete on 12 February 2012. Nimani made his Europa League debut in the second leg against Udinese in a 3–0 loss on 23 February 2012, putting PAOK out of the tournament. On 18 April 2012, Nimani scored his first goal in a 2–0 win over Doxa Drama. After a loan at PAOK, the club did not take up a permanent move for Nimani.[12]

Istres

After his loan at PAOK ended, Nimani return to Monaco and he was barely used in the first team. In January, it announced that Nimani was expected to leave the club[13] before Nimani was released by the club.[14] Just a few days later after his release, Nimani joined Istres on a free transfer, until the end of the 2012–13 season.[15] He made ten appearances for the club.

OFI Crete

At the end of the 2012–13 season, Nimani left the club and move abroad to Greece by joining OFI Crete on a two-year deal.[16]

Fribourg and Egersund

In 2015, Nimani played for FC Fribourg.[17]

Nimani had a short spell at the Norwegian side Egersunds IK. He made a partnership with Stian Koldal and Frode Egebakken. He made 24 appearances and produced 12 goals.

In September 2016, he returned to FC Fribourg.[17]

Xamax

On 31 January 2017, the last day of the 2016–17 winter transfer window, Nimani joined Swiss Challenge League side Neuchâtel Xamax FCS. He signed a contract until June 2018 with the option of an extension in case of promotion to the Swiss Super League.[18][19]

Sant Julia

In February 2021, Nimani signed for Andorran side Sant Julià.

Racing Besancon

In July 2021, Nimani joined Racing Besançon in France.

SC Young Fellows Juventus

In January 2022, Nimani returned to Switzerland to sign for Young Fellows Juventus who play in the Swiss 1. Liga Promotion.

International career

Nimani played eight times and scored two times with the France U21, but was eligible to play for both Chad and Central African Republic. He was called up for the first time to the latter selection[20] and made his debut in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Guinea on 9 September 2018.[21]

Personal life

Nimani was born in Marseille and is of Chadian and Central African descent.

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by national team and year[1]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Central African Republic 201840
Total40

References
  1. Frédéric Nimani at National-Football-Teams.com
  2. Frédéric Nimani at WorldFootball.net
  3. "Frédéric Nimani | Neuchâtel Xamax FCS | Super League 2018/2019". Swiss Football League (in German). Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  4. 'Arsenal and Madrid Chase Young French Ace'
  5. McLeish chases Nimani
  6. "Burnley take Monaco striker Frederic Nimani on loan". BBC Sport. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  7. Nimani Joins On Loan Archived 25 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "TROYES VS. MONACO 1 - 1". Soccerway. 6 August 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  9. "Συμφωνία με την AS Monaco για τον Frederic Nimani" (in Greek). paokfc.gr. Archived from the original on 3 February 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  10. Έκλεισε ο Νιμανί (in Greek). paok24.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  11. Ο Νιμανί αρέσει στον Μπόλονι (in Greek). paok24.com. Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  12. "Season review of the players on loan" [Bilan de la saison des joueurs prêtés] (in French). Planete ASM. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  13. "Marester, Nimani and Barazite on departure" [Marester, Nimani et Barazite sur le départ] (in French). Planete ASM. 1 January 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  14. "Contract terminated for Frédéric Nimani (Updated)" [Contrat résilié pour Frédéric Nimani (MàJ)] (in French). Planete ASM. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  15. "ASM: Frédéric Nimani file in Istres" [ASM : Frédéric Nimani file à Istres] (in French). Europe Mercato. 19 January 2013. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  16. "Signed for two years Frédéric Nimani" [Υπέγραψε για δύο χρόνια ο Φρεντερίκ Νιμανί] (in Greek). Official site of the OFI Crete. 5 July 2013. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  17. "Frédéric Nimani de retour à Fribourg". La Liberté (in French). 2 September 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  18. "Frédéric Nimani à Neuchâtel Xamax". L'Équipe (in French). 1 February 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  19. "Xamax holt ehemaligen Ligue-1-Spieler Frédéric Nimani". Aargauer Zeitung (in German). 1 February 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  20. Okeleji, Oluwashina (6 September 2018). "Geoffrey Kondogbia cleared for CAR but will wait for debut". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  21. "Guinea - Central African Republic 09/09/2018". www.cafonline.com.
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