Geoffrey Mujangi Bia

Geoffrey Mujangi Bia (born 12 August 1989) is a Belgian international footballer who plays as a winger for Maccabi Petah Tikva.

Geoffrey Mujangi Bia
Personal information
Full name Geoffrey Mujangi Bia
Date of birth (1989-08-12) 12 August 1989
Place of birth Kinshasa, Zaire
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) [1]
Playing position(s) Attacking midfielder, Winger
Club information
Current team
 Maccabi Petah Tikva
Youth career
Union Saint-Gilloise
Anderlecht
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2011 Charleroi 59 (9)
2010–2011 → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 4 (0)
2011–2015 Standard Liège 88 (25)
2012–2013 → Watford (loan) 3 (0)
2015–2017 Sion 35 (13)
2017–2018 Kayserispor 5 (0)
2018 → Akhisar Belediyespor (loan) 4 (0)
2018–2019 Lokeren 4 (0)
2019– Maccabi Petah Tikva 5 (1)
National team
2009 Belgium U20 1 (0)
2009–2010 Belgium U21 7 (2)
2009 Belgium 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 August 2019 (UTC)

He established himself in Belgian football with Charleroi before experiencing the English Premier League with a loan spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers. In 2011, he returned to Belgium to join Standard Liège.

Club career

Mujangi Bia emigrated with his family from DR Congo to Zellik, Belgium as a young child. He began his football career on the books of the Brussels-based club Union Saint-Gilloise, before being spotted by Anderlecht. Although one of their academy's most promising players, he was released by the club after being caught stealing from them.[2]

After some months without a club, he joined Charleroi where he made his professional debut on 17 December 2006 in 0–1 defeat at Zulte Waregem, the first of three appearances that season. He scored his first senior goals the following season (3), before 2008–09 saw his most appearances yet as he played 28 league games.[3]

The midfielder joined English Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan on 21 January 2010 for the remainder of the 2009–10 season.[4] He made his Premier League debut as a substitute in a 2–2 draw at Hull City,[5] one of three appearances that season. At the season's end it was announced he would also spend the 2010–11 season with Wolves.[6]

Mujangi Bia failed to break into Wolves' first team plans during the next season, making just one league appearance, as a late substitute at Manchester City. He scored his only goal for Wolves in a 5–0 FA Cup victory over Championship team Doncaster Rovers. In April 2011 it was announced that he would transfer to Standard Liège on a three-year deal once the transfer window re-opened in the summer.[7]

The winger featured for Standard throughout the 2011–12 season as the club ended in fifth place. However, in August 2012, he was told he was no longer involved in the club's plans, and on 25 August signed for English Championship club Watford on a season-long loan deal, having already agreed to a long-term permanent contract; this will commence in summer 2013 if this option is exercised by Watford.[8]

He made his Watford debut on 28 August 2012 in their League Cup exit to eventual finalists Bradford.[9] After making two league appearances for Watford in the early part of the season, Bia made his first league appearance since the back end of 2012 as a substitute in a 0–1 defeat to Barnsley on 16 March 2013.

During the 2014/15 season Bia scored 14 and created a further 7 goals for Standard Liège. However, after a row with coach Slavoljub Muslin Bia found himself in the B team. During the summer of 2015 a proposed move to Bursaspor fell through after they announced the signing of Hungarian Dzsudzsák. Finally Bia signed a three-year deal with Swiss side Sion.

On 10 May 2018, Bia helped Akhisar Belediyespor win their first professional trophy, the 2017–18 Turkish Cup.[10]

On February 5, 2018, Bia was fired by his club KSC Lokeren on "grounds of urgency".[11]

Honours
Akhisarspor

Career statistics
As of match played on 13 April 2018[12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueCupOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sporting Charleroi2006–07Belgian First Division 30000030
2007–08 1730000173
2008–09 2940000294
2009–10Belgian Pro League 1022000122
Total 5992000619
Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)2009–10Premier League 30200050
2010–11 10210031
Total 40410081
Standard Liège2011–12Belgian Pro League 232206[lower-alpha 1]0312
2012–13 10000010
2013–14 3091010[lower-alpha 1]54114
2014–15 3414109[lower-alpha 2]04414
Total 88254025511730
Watford (loan)2012–13Football League Championship 30200060
Sion2015–16Swiss Super League 197216[lower-alpha 1]0278
2016–17 1662200188
Total 351343604516
Kayserispor2017–18Süper Lig 50310081
Akhisarspor (loan)2017–18Süper Lig 40000040
Career totals 1984719531524857
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, Four appearances in UEFA Champions League

International career

Mujangi Bia turned down his birthplace DR Congo to instead represent the Belgium national football team.[13] He made his international debut on 29 May 2009 in a Kirin Cup draw against Chile.[14] He has previously also played for Belgium at under-21 level.

References
  1. "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  2. "Mujangi Bia: viré en Mauve, heureux en Zèbre" (in French). actu24.be. 8 April 2008.
  3. "Geoffrey Mujangi Bia: Facts". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012.
  4. "Wolves sign Belgian midfielder Mujangi on loan". BBC Sport. 21 January 2010.
  5. "Hull 2–2 Wolverhampton". BBC Sport. 30 January 2010.
  6. "Geoffrey to stay on". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 11 May 2010. Archived from the original on 25 March 2011.
  7. "Geoffrey Mujangi Bia" (in French). Standard Liege. 28 April 2011.
  8. "Watford sign Standard Liege's Geoffrey Mujangi Bia on loan". BBC Sport. 24 August 2012.
  9. "Watford 1–2 Bradford". BBC Sport. 28 August 2012.
  10. "Kupa tarihinin 15. şampiyonu oldu!".
  11. "Mujangi Bia om "dringende redenen" ontslagen in Lokeren". sporza.be (in Dutch). 5 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  12. Geoffrey Mujangi Bia at Soccerway. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  13. "Mujangi Bia: "Mon coeur va pour la Belgique"". Footgoal.net. 13 August 2008. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008.
  14. "Chile and Belgium draw in Kirin Cup". soccerway.com. 29 May 2009.
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