Moroccan footballer
Ryan Mmaee A'Nwambeben Kabir (Arabic: ريان ماي; born 1 November 1997) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Stoke City. Born in Belgium, he represents Morocco internationally.[1]
Mmaee began his professional career in 2015 with Standard Liège, making his debut at the age of 17. Disagreements with the club management saw him loaned out to Waasland-Beveren and Danish side AGF. He moved to Cyprus in 2019 joining AEL Limassol. After scoring 17 goals in 2020–21 he earned a move to Hungarian champions Ferencváros in July 2021. He spent two seasons with Ferencváros, winning back-to-back league titles and a Magyar Kupa before signing for English side Stoke City in July 2023.
Club career
Early life and career
Mmaee was born in Geraardsbergen, Belgium to a Cameroonian father Nwambebeg Mmaee, and a Moroccan mother Fatima. After his birth, his family moved to Sint-Pieters-Leeuw. At school, he studied mathematical sciences at the Royal Athenaeum in Halle. It was in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw that Mmaee began playing football, with the amateur club KV Zuun. A year later, he enrolled in the academy of RWDM Brussels. In 2010, he joined Gent. Three years later, he joined Standard Liège with his brother Samy Mmaee.
Standard Liège
Mmaee made his Belgian Pro League debut on 21 May 2015, at the age of 17 against Gent replacing Mehdi Carcela after 82 minutes in a 2–0 away defeat.[3] Mmaee and his brother, Samy signed professional three-year contracts with Standard in August 2015.[4] In the 2015–16 season he made seven appearances as Standard finished in seventh position.[1] After playing in a few matches at the start of 2016–17, Mmaee was dropped from the first team back to the u-23s after he had an argument with manager Aleksandar Janković and an altercation with the physical trainer.[5] Mmaee later explained what happened— "At 19, we want to play every game. When you don't play, you are disappointed, and your reactions are not always appropriate. I was young, I was learning on the job, I made mistakes when, I think, the club did not trust young people enough. I was upset in training because I was not selected in the group, I let it be known, and there were bound to be consequences. I thought it was all going to happen naturally. I was playing with the Belgian national team as a youth, I was upgraded to Standard, I thought it was going to happen so quickly in the professional world. It was not I don't care, but naivety".
He briefly returned to the first-team at the end of the season but after signing a contract extension he was loaned out to Waasland-Beveren with an option to buy.[6] Mmaee played in 20 matches in 2017–18, scoring only once as Waasland-Beveren finished in 12th place and they decided against the purchase option and he returned to Standard.[7] On 31 August 2018, Mmaee joined Danish Superliga side AGF Aarhus on loan for the 2018–19 season.[8] He made 12 appearances, scoring three goals all of which came in the Danish Cup. Mmaee stated that he did not enjoy his time in Denmark—"My teammates were nice, but the people in Denmark were quite cold. When we arrived at the club in the morning, we didn't shake hands, and when I was driving and let a pedestrian cross the road, there was no small gesture of thanks."
AEL Limassol
After leaving Standard Liège, Mmaee signed a three-year contract with Cypriot First Division side AEL Limassol on 10 September 2019. He scored eight goals in 24 appearances in 2019–20 until the league was suspended on 15 May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] In 2020–21, Mmaee scored 17 goals as AEL Limassol finished in third place.[10]
Ferencváros
Mmaee signed for Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság I champions Ferencváros in May 2021, linking up with his brother Samy.[11] He scored on his debut for Fradi, on 6 July 2021 in a 3–0 win over Kosovan side Prishtina in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round.[12] He also scored twice in the next round against Žalgiris.[13] He made his league debut on 31 July 2021, scoring a penalty in a 2–1 defeat to Kisvárda.[14] Ferencváros progressed past Slavia Prague to make it to the Champions League play-off round but they were defeated 6–4 on aggregate by Young Boys, dropping down to the UEFA Europa League.[15] They were unable to get out of the group containing Bayer Leverkusen, Celtic and Real Betis, finishing bottom after managing one victory.[16] Mmaee ended the 2021–22 season with 19 goals from 37 matches as Ferencváros won the title with four games left.[17] They won a double after beating Paks 3–0 in the Magyar Kupa final.[18] In 2022–23 Mmaee scored 12 goals in 31 appearances as Ferencváros again won the league title.[19]
Stoke City
On 28 July 2023, Mmaee joined English EFL Championship side Stoke City for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract.[20] He scored his first goal for Stoke on 29 August 2023 in a 6–1 win against Rotherham United in the EFL Cup.[21]
International career
Mmaee is of Cameroonian and Moroccan descent, having a father from Cameroon and a mother from Morocco. As such, he was eligible to represent either Belgium, Cameroon or Morocco at senior level. He made his debut for the senior Morocco national team in a 2–0 win against Sudan.[22]
Personal life
Mmaee's brothers, Samy, Camil and Jack are also a professional footballers.[23] In May 2021 he was involved in a car accident in Limassol, Cyprus crashing into a car dealership and had to be extracted from his vehicle by emergency workers.[24]
Sudan
Guinea