Biography
Congolese forward Dieumerci Mbokani joined the Tigers on a season-long loan in August 2017. A willing worker and a strong presence at the top of the field, Mbokani nevertheless failed to impress and, more crucially, failed to score for Mike Phelan’s side. After blotting his copy book with a silly sending off Dieumerci fell out of favour and struggled to forge a place in the City XI when Marco Silva took charge.
Dieudonne Mbokani Besua started his career with junior club Bel-Or, based in his home city Kinshasa in what was then called Zaire, before spending two years at TP Mazembe. In July 2006 he began a season-long loan at Belgian Jupiler League side Anderlecht and after a debut against RSC Charleroi in September 2006 he went on to score five goals in 10 appearances including a May 2007 hattrick in an 8-1 thumping of SK Beveren. Despite his good form for the Brussels based side in July 2007 Mbokani made a permanent transfer to top flight rivals Standard Liege, quickly establishing himself as one of the most effective strikers in the Belgian game. In three seasons he scored 50 goals in 120 senior appearances including 25 appearances in European competitions – he played in the Champions League against Liverpool and Arsenal, and the Europa League against Everton.
In July 2010 his form was rewarded with a seven million euro transfer to French Ligue 1 side AS Monaco, amid interest from Premier League side Liverpool. But he struggled to find his feet in France and after one goal in 11 appearances for Monaco he ended the 2010/11 season on loan at German Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg where he failed to score in 7 appearances. Perhaps chastened by this experience, in August 2011 he returned to Belgium and transferred to his first European club Anderlecht for a knockdown three million euro fee. He quickly rediscovered his form and in two seasons he netted 43 times in 69 appearances – his second season at Anderlecht yielded an impressive haul of 27 goals in all competitiions including hattricks against Cercle Brugge in August 2012 and RAEC Mons in December 2012.
This resumption of goalscoring form saw Dieumerci again attract the attention of scouts across Europe and in June 2013 he signed for Ukrainian league side Dynamo Kiev in return for an 11 million euro fee. He scored 16 times for Dynamo in the 2013/14 season but was used sparingly the folloiwng term and was seeking a new challenge by the 2015 close season. This arrived in August 2015 in the form of a season-long loan move to newly promoted English Premier League side Norwich City – Mbokani made his Canaries debut in September 2015 against Bournemouth and netted his first Premier League goal a month later against Leicester City. He scored seven times in 30 appearances for Norwich City before spending the following season on loan at Hull City.
Mbokani returned to Ukraine for the 2017/18 season and was restored to the Dynamo first team, when he left the club in the summer of 2018 on expiry of his contract he had scored 31 goals in 77 appearances for the Kiev side. In August 2018 he once again returned to Belgium, signing for top flight side Royal Antwerp. As before he found his form and in three seasons he scored 52 goals in 115 senior appearances including a February 2020 hattrick against KV Oostende. After spending the 2021/22 season at Kuwaiti League side Kuwait SC, making just 9 appearances, Dieumerci returned to Belgium for a fourth time in September 2022, signing for Challenger Pro League side SK Beveren and getting amongst the goals once again, netting 16 times in 24 appearances during the 2022/23 season as he entered his 38th year.
In August 2023 he was on his travels once more, signing for Armenian Premier League side FC Noah Yerevan. He scored two goals in 10 appearances for the Yerevan-based side before hanging up his boots in March 2024, calling an end to a rich and varied twenty year career that yielded over 200 senior goals.
Mbokani made his international debut for DR Congo in July 2005 against Botswana and netted his first international goal a year later against Mexico. He went on to score regularly for several years, netting a hattrick in September 2012 against Equatorial Guinea and representing his country at the 2013 and 2015 African Cup of Nations – he played in the semi-final in 2015. In 2016 Mbokani had a close encounter with a terrorist bombing at Brussels Airport while en route to international duty, and he stepped down from the DR Congo squad. He returned for the 2017 African Nations Cup finals, winning five caps while on Hull City’s books. After a four year break he returned to the international scene once again in September 2021. When he won his final cap against Morocco in March 2022 he had scored 22 international goals in 48 appearances.
Details
Nationality: Democratic Republic of Congo
Date/Place of Birth: 22 November 1985, Kinshasa (DR Congo)
Hull City First Game: 17 September 2016, Arsenal H (Premier League), 30 years, 300 days old
Hull City Final Game: 6 May 2017, Sunderland H (Premier League), 31 years, 165 days old
Clubs
Bel’Or (2004), TP Mazembe (2005-2007), Anderlecht (2006-2007, loan), Standard Liege (2007-2010), Monaco (2010-2011), VfL Wolfsburg (2011, loan), Anderlecht (2011-2013), Dynamo Kiev (2013-2018), Norwich City (2015-2016, loan), Hull City (2016-2017, loan), Royal Antwerp (2018-2021), Kuwait SC (2021-2022), SK Beveren (2022-2023), FC Noah Yerevan (2023-2024)
Hull City Record
Career: 14 apps, 0 goals
Dieumerci Mbokani| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016/17 | 8 (4) | 0 | – | – | 2 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – |