Footballer (born 1977)
Shabani Christophe Nonda (born 6 March 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born in Burundi, he played for the DR Congo national team, earning 36 caps and scoring 20 goals. He was selected for DR Congo's squad for the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations. He had a prominent Career with the East African giants Young Africans (Yanga), before joining Vaal professionals in South Africa.
Club career
Born in Bujumbura, Burundi, Nonda began his career at Atlético Olympic[1] in 1992. After playing in Tanzania with Young Africans and in South Africa with Vaal Professionals, he was discovered by FIFA agent Marcelo Houseman who then placed Nonda in Switzerland with FC Zürich in 1996 for a transfer fee of US$150,000.[citation needed]
After finishing top goalscorer in Switzerland two years running he was transferred to French side Stade Rennais in 1998 for a record fee of US$9 million dollars,[citation needed] and later moved to AS Monaco in 2000 again for €20 million, to replace David Trezeguet.[2] His performances, including those in the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final, earned him a move to Serie A club A.S. Roma on a three-year deal in 2005, for which he earned €1.8 million in gross per season. (however the tax rate including regional tax may have added up to around 50%)[3][4] However, he never lived up to his potential – partly due to a knee injury sustained while at Monaco – and spent the 2006–07 season on loan at English side Blackburn Rovers.[5] While at Blackburn, Nonda announced his intention to sign a permanent deal,[6] Blackburn opted not to sign Nonda on a permanent deal and[7] he later signed for Turkish club Galatasaray in August 2007 on a two-year deal.[8] On 28 January 2010, Galatasaray released him by mutual consent.
International career
Though he was born in Burundi, Nonda holds citizenship from Democratic Republic of the Congo and to date 36 international caps for the country, with 20 goals since 2000.[2] He retired from international football in 2005, and returned in 2007.[9] He scored a hat-trick against Djibouti in World Cup Qualifications in 2008.
