Ridle Baku

Bote Ridle Nzuzi Baku (born Bote Nzuzi Baku; 8 April 1998) is a German professional footballer who plays as a right-back or defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg and the Germany national team.[4]

Ridle Baku
Baku with Mainz 05 in 2018
Personal information
Full name Bote Ridle Nzuzi Baku[1]
Birth name Bote Nzuzi Baku[2]
Date of birth (1998-04-08) 8 April 1998
Place of birth Mainz, Germany
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[3]
Position(s) Right-back, Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 VfL Wolfsburg
Number 20
Youth career
2007–2018 Mainz 05
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Mainz 05 II 27 (1)
2018–2020 Mainz 05 50 (3)
2020– VfL Wolfsburg 102 (14)
International career‡
2015–2016 Germany U18 10 (1)
2016–2017 Germany U19 10 (3)
2018–2019 Germany U20 3 (0)
2019–2021 Germany U21 14 (2)
2020– Germany 4 (1)
Medal record
Representing  Germany
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Winner2021 Hungary–Slovenia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:55, 3 September 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:57, 14 November 2021 (UTC)

Club career

Mainz 05

In the 2017–18 season, Baku joined the squad of Mainz 05 II, making his debut in the Regionalliga Südwest on 30 July 2017 in a 3–0 home win against FSV Frankfurt.[5] Baku scored his first goal for the reserve team on 16 September 2017, scoring Mainz's second in the 82nd minute of the 2–0 home win against Kickers Offenbach.[6]

Baku made his professional debut for Mainz 05 in the 2017–18 DFB-Pokal on 19 December 2017, starting in the 3–1 home win against VfB Stuttgart.[7] He made his Bundesliga debut on 29 April 2018 in the 3–0 home win against RB Leipzig. Baku secured the victory for Mainz, scoring the final goal of the match in the 90th minute.[8]

2020–21 season

On 1 October 2020, Baku completed a move to fellow Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg, for an undisclosed fee on a five-year contract.[9] He made his club debut three days later in a 0–0 draw with Augsburg, replacing Renato Steffen who had tested positive for COVID-19.[10] He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with Hertha Berlin on 1 November.[11]

Baku impressed in his first season at the club and was named to the Bundesliga Team of the Season.[12] He contributed with a league-leading 2583 intensive runs after 31 matchdays, including an also league-leading 993 sprints, over 150 more than the second name on that particular list. He scored six goals and supplied a further four assists to go with 82 crosses, 32 shots, and 305 successful tackles.[12]

2021–22 season

Baku scored in Wolfsburg's opening match of the 2021–22 season on 8 August 2021, a 3–1 win over fourth division club SC Preußen Münster in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. However, Wolfsburg used a total of six substitutes, while only five were allowed, and were disqualified after a protest by Preußen Münster.[13] Baku scored again two weeks later in a come-from-behind league win over Hertha Berlin.[14]

International career

Baku earned his first call-up for the German senior team on 8 November 2020.[15] His debut came on 11 November 2020, in a friendly game against the Czech Republic.[16] On 6 June 2021, he won the UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021 with the Germany U21, giving the assist to the solitary goal against Portugal.[17]

Style of play

Baku has been described as an energetic right full-back who can both inflict damage going forward while possessing the defensive nous to hold things together defensively when on the back foot.[12]

Personal life

Born Bote Nzuzi Baku on 8 April 1998 in Mainz, Germany, Baku is of Congolese descent. He is the twin brother of Makana Baku, who is also a professional footballer.[18] He was given the nickname "Ridle" by his father, who was a fan of German footballer Karl-Heinz Riedle.[19][20] In 2018, Baku had his name legally changed to include Ridle.[21]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 2 September 2023[22]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Mainz 05 2017–18 Bundesliga 3210–42
2018–19 15010–160
2019–20 30110–311
2020–21 2010–30
Total 50340–543
VfL Wolfsburg 2020–21 Bundesliga 32630–356
2021–22 343116[lower-alpha 1]1415
2022–23 33530–365
2023–24 3011–41
Total 10214826111617
Career total 152161226117019
  1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International
As of match played 14 November 2021[22]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Germany
202010
202131
Total41
As of match played 14 November 2021
Germany score listed first, score column indicates score after each Baku goal[23]
List of international goals scored by Ridle Baku
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
111 November 2021Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg, Germany3 Liechtenstein7–09–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Germany U21

Individual

References
  1. "Bote Ridle Nzuzi Baku | Player profile". Bundesliga. Deutsche Fußball Liga. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  2. "Bote Baku". WorldFootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  3. "Ridle Baku". VfL Wolfsburg. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  4. Ridle Baku at kicker (in German)
  5. "1. FSV Mainz 05 II – FSV Frankfurt 3:0 (Regionalliga Südwest 2017/2018, 1. Round)". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. 30 July 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  6. "1. FSV Mainz 05 II – Kickers Offenbach 2:0 (Regionalliga Südwest 2017/2018, 9. Round)". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  7. "1. FSV Mainz 05 – VfB Stuttgart 3:1 (DFB-Pokal 2017/2018, Round of 16)". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  8. "1. FSV Mainz 05 – RB Leipzig 3:0 (Bundesliga 2017/2018, 32. Round)". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. 29 April 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  9. "Ridle Baku joins Wolfsburg from Mainz". Bulinews. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  10. "Wolfsburg 0-0 Augsburg". Who Scored. 4 October 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  11. "Hertha BSC 1:1 VfL Wolfsburg". DFB (in German). 1 November 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  12. "The 2020/21 Bundesliga Team of the Season!". Bundesliga. 15 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  13. "DFB wirft Wolfsburg aus dem Pokal". kicker (in German). 16 August 2021.
  14. "Lukas Nmecha fires Wolfsburg to victory over Hertha Berlin". Bundesliga. 21 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  15. "Löw nominiert Ridle Baku nach". dfb.de (in German). DFB. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  16. "Junges DFB-Team siegt gegen Tschechien". dfb.de (in German). DFB. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  17. Strohschein, Jörg (6 June 2021). "Deutschlands U21 ist Europameister". DW (in German). Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  18. "Makana und Ridle Baku: Unbekümmert und unberechenbar". DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V.
  19. Schröder, Torben (15 November 2017). "Mainz 05 hält große Stücke auf Bote Baku" [Mainz 05 thinks very highly of Bote Baku]. Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Mainz. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  20. Freytag, Johannes (11 November 2020). "Wolfsburgs Baku überzeugt auch im DFB-Trikot" [Wolfsburg's Baku also impresses in the DFB jersey]. Norddeutscher Rundfunk (in German). Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  21. Rudolf, Bardo (9 March 2018). "FSV Mainz 05: Mit Florian Müller und freien Köpfen gegen Schalke 04" [FSV Mainz 05: With Florian Müller and free spirits against Schalke 04]. Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Mainz. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  22. Ridle Baku at Soccerway. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  23. "Ridle Baku". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  24. "Germany beat Portugal for third U21 EURO title". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  25. "Under-21 EURO Squad of the Tournament". UEFA. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
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