Mandela Keita

Mandela Keita (born 10 May 2002) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Belgian Pro League club Antwerp, on loan from OH Leuven, and the Belgium national team.[1]

Mandela Keita
Personal information
Date of birth (2002-05-10) 10 May 2002
Place of birth Leuven, Belgium
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Antwerp
(on loan from OH Leuven)
Number 27
Youth career
2009–2021 OH Leuven
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021– OH Leuven 27 (0)
2023 → Antwerp (loan) 17 (1)
2023– → Antwerp (loan) 7 (0)
International career‡
2021–2023 Belgium U21 8 (0)
2023– Belgium 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 October 2023

Club career

Keita made his debut for OH Leuven on 21 March 2021 in the away match against Mechelen.[2] Due to injury and lengthy recovery, Keita spent most of the first half of the 2022–23 season on the bench, only featuring sporadically. During the winter 2022–23 transfer window, Keita was therefore loaned out to Antwerp to get more playing time. Antwerp did obtain a buy clause but at 10 million Euro it was extremely unlikely to be activated. At Antwerp, Keita did feature regularly and even scored his first professional league goal as Antwerp became league champions for the first time in 66 years. On top of that, at the end of the season Keita was also selected as part of the Belgium U21 squad for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Despite this, the buy clause did not get activated and he returned to OHL in the summer of 2023, where he still had a contract until 2025. Antwerp did however want to continue with Keita and after months of negotiations, and with Keita even appearing again in the OH Leuven shirt, he was loaned out again to Antwerp on 10 August 2023 for a full season, again with a buy clause for a total estimated financial fee of between 7 and 8 million Euro.[3]

International career

Born in Belgium, Keita is of Guinean descent. He has represented the former country at youth international level, having played for the Belgium U21s.[4]

In October 2023, he received his first call-up to the Belgium senior national team for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Austria and Sweden.[5]

Honours

Royal Antwerp

References
  1. "M. KEITA'". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  2. "Debuut Keita, terugkeer Tshimanga" [Debut Keita, return Tshimanga]. ohleuven.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  3. https://www.ohleuven.com/news/mandela-keita-naar-antwerp/
  4. "DPG Media Privacy Gate". myprivacy.dpgmedia.be.
  5. "Niet Arthur Vermeeren, wel Mandela Keita is de grote verrassing in selectie Rode Duivels" [No Arthur Vermeeren, but Mandela Keita is the big surprise in the selection of the Red Devils]. sporza.be (in Dutch). Sporza. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
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