Mario Lemina in Fulham: a Panther back in England

Gabonese Mario Lemina during CAN 2017. RFI / Pierre René-Worms

Text by: Sarah-Lou Bakouche

4 min

Mario Lemina will return to the Premier League.

Fulham finally announced the loan with option to buy the Gabonese international.

Return on the trajectory of a formidable Panther.

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Last year, Mario Lemina left England for a year-long affair with Turkish club Galatasaray.

This season he will play well in the Premier League, but not at Southampton, who have loaned him again.

The Gabonese will play in Fulham, a promoted who finds the English elite.

The London formation has disbursed 2.2 million euros for this paying loan with option to buy, automatic if the club is maintained at the end of the championship.

Endless transfer rumors

The former Marseillais has never managed to win with the Saints, with whom he is under contract until June 2022. At each transfer window, there are many rumors around possible transfers.

This summer, Werder Bremen and Besiktas looked set to welcome him, and an extension with Galatasaray has even been considered.

Symptomatic of a see-saw career, started in Lorient, his training club in 2013, which he quickly left for Olympique de Marseille, after only a handful of matches in Ligue 1. Under the leadership of Marcelo Bielsa in particular, Lemina thrives in the Old Port on a personal and sporting level:

Marseillais Mario Lemina.

AFP PHOTO / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT

This did not prevent his departure to Juventus Turin two years later, where he began a prolific passage concerning his record: two double cup-championship.

He will even come into play in the 2017 Champions League final lost (4-1) to Real Madrid when he was only 23 years old.

But the Old Lady is not completely convinced and he joins England and Southampton.

The Saints then pay 17.5 million euros, almost double the sum paid by Juve to OM during their previous transfer.

Between France and Gabon, the journey of a binational

A winding course also in selection.

Born in Libreville in 1993 to a French mother and a Gabonese father, Lemina has apparently always been torn between the two selections.

Under-20 world champion in 2013 with the French team of Paul Pogba, Florian Thauvin and Alphonse Aréola, he ultimately did not pursue his career in blue.

Only one selection with the Espoirs before opting for the Gabonese selection.

Undecided, Lemina has long refused the appeals of the foot of his country of origin but he puts on the Panthers jersey for the first time on October 9, 2015 against Tunisia.

He will take the opportunity to score his first international goal.

A disastrous participation in CAN 2017 follows for him and Gabon.

Injured, he played only one match and the Panthers of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were eliminated in the first round.

Let's go @FulhamFC 🙌🏾 #FFC #TonicLikeLeminade pic.twitter.com/zZqOPfGSH9

  Mario Lemina (@ LeminaM_13) August 31, 2020

At 26, Lemina is undoubtedly at a turning point in her career.

Galatasaray did not wish to exercise the purchase option concerning him.

It is up to him to convince the Cottagers that he can finally register for continuity.

Obviously beneficial for him and his future in selection.

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