Wilfrid Kaptoum
Personal information
Full name Wilfrid Jaures Kaptoum
Date of birth (1996-07-07) 7 July 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth Douala, Cameroon
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 AEK Larnaca
Number 18
Youth career
Samuel Eto'o Academy
2008–2015 Barcelona
2009–2010 → Sant Andreu (loan)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2018 Barcelona B 42 (6)
2015–2016 Barcelona 0 (0)
2018–2019 Betis B 17 (0)
2018–2020 Betis 15 (0)
2020 → Almería (loan) 8 (0)
2021–2022 New England Revolution 42 (2)
2023 Las Palmas 11 (0)
2023– AEK Larnaca 11 (0)
International career
2014–2015 Cameroon U20 8 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 December 2023

Wilfrid Jaures Kaptoum (born 7 July 1996) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Cypriot club AEK Larnaca.[2]

Club career

Barcelona

Born in Douala, Kaptoum joined FC Barcelona's youth ranks in 2008, aged 12, after a stint in Samuel Eto'o's foundation.[3] He was subsequently loaned to neighbouring UE Sant Andreu,[4] and in June 2014 was promoted to the reserves in Segunda División.[5]

Kaptoum played his first match as a professional on 23 August 2014, starting in a 0–2 away loss against CA Osasuna.[6] He scored his first goal on 19 October, netting the second in a 4–1 home win against AD Alcorcón.[7] On 28 October 2015, Kaptoum made his debut for Barcelona's first team, starting in a goalless draw away to CF Villanovense in the season's Copa del Rey.[8]

Kaptoum's first appearance in the UEFA Champions League came on 9 December 2015, in a 1–1 draw away to Leverkusen.[9][10] In another 1–1 draw game against Valencia CF on 10 February 2016, he scored his debut goal for the first team 2 minutes after coming in as a substitute in the second leg of Copa del Rey semifinals.[11][12] His goal also served to extend FC Barcelona's unbeaten run to 29 games, breaking the previous record of 28 games set under Pep Guardiola in the 2010–11 season.[13]

Kaptoum sustained a knee injury which kept him out of action for five months. He returned to fitness in December 2017.[14] On 29 January 2018, he agreed to terminate his contract with Barcelona.[14]

Betis

On 31 January 2018, two days after leaving Barcelona, Kaptoum signed with Real Betis and was initially assigned to the B-team.[15] He made his first team debut on 4 October, replacing Sergio León in a 3–0 home defeat of F91 Dudelange, for the season's UEFA Europa League.[16]

Kaptoum made his La Liga debut on 3 February 2019, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 home win against Atlético Madrid.[17] On 10 January 2020, Kaptoum joined UD Almería on loan for the remainder of the season.[18]

On 5 October 2020, Kaptoum terminated his contract with the Verdiblancos.[19]

New England Revolution

On 23 December 2020, the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer announced the signing of Kaptoum on a free transfer.[20][21] He scored his first goal for the club against Chicago Fire on 16 October 2021. Following the 2022 season, New England opted to decline his contract option.[22]

Las Palmas

On 13 January 2023, Kaptoum returned to Spain and its second division, after signing a short-term deal with UD Las Palmas.[23]

AEK Larnaca

On 13 July 2023, Kaptoum joined Cypriot First Division club AEK Larnaca.[24]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 8 December 2023[25]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Barcelona B 2013–14 Segunda División 0 0 — — — 0 0
2014–15 3 1 — — — 3 1
2015–16 Segunda División B 25 3 — — — 25 3
2016–17 14 2 — — 2[a] 0 16 2
Total 42 6 0 0 0 0 2 0 44 6
Barcelona 2015–16 La Liga 0 0 2 1 1[b] 0 — 3 1
2016–17 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Total 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 3 1
Betis B 2017–18 Segunda División B 12 0 — — — 12 0
2018–19 Tercera División 5 0 — — — 5 0
Total 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 0
Betis 2018–19 La Liga 10 0 3 0 — — 13 0
2019–20 5 0 1 1 2[c] 0 — 8 1
Total 15 0 4 1 2 0 0 0 21 1
Almería (loan) 2019–20 Segunda División 8 0 0 0 — — 8 0
New England Revolution 2021 MLS 21 1 0 0 — — 21 1
2022 21 1 1 0 — — 22 1
Total 42 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 43 2
Las Palmas 2022–23 La Liga 11 0 0 0 — — 11 0
Larnaca 2023–24 Cypriot First Division 11 0 0 0 3[d] 0 — 14 0
Career total 146 8 7 2 6 0 2 0 161 10
  1. ^ Two appearances in Segunda División B play-offs
  2. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

Barcelona

New England Revolution

References

  1. ^ revolutionsoccer.net. "Wilfrid Kaptoum | New England Revolution". revolutionsoccer.net. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  2. ^ Wilfrid Kaptoum at Soccerway
  3. ^ Kaptoum, el único mediocentro africano (Kaptoum, the only African central midfielder); El Mundo Deportivo, 9 May 2012 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Kaptoum, un Zidane de color y vestido del Barça (Kaptoum, a black Zidane and wearing Barça); Sport, 14 May 2014 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Kaptoum tiene muchos números para subir al Barça B (Kaptoum has many numbers to rise to Barça B); Sport, 20 June 2014 (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Un doblete de Nino endulza la vuelta a Segunda tras 14 años (A Nino's double makes the return to Segunda after 14 years sweeter); Marca, 23 August 2014 (in Spanish)
  7. ^ Adama Traoré se disfraza de gacela para devorar al Alcorcón (Adama Traoré uses a gazelle costume to devour Alcorcón); Marca, 19 October 2014 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ "Kaptoum y Aitor debutan con el primer equipo del Barcelona" [Kaptoum and Aitor debut with Barcelona's first team] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Cámara y Kaptoum debutan en Champions" [Cámara y Kaptoum make their debut in the Champions League]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 9 December 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  10. ^ "Bayer Leverkusen 1 - 1 Barcelona Player & Team ratings - 09/12/2015 UEFA Champions League". goal.com. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  11. ^ "Valencia 1-1 Barcelona (agg 1-8): Neville denied rare win as Barça break record". goal.com. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  12. ^ "Barça salvage 1-1 King's Cup draw against improved Valencia". Reuters. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  13. ^ "El FC Barcelona, a la final de la Copa del Rey con récord" [Kaptoum extends Barça's unbeaten run as Luis Enrique's side stroll into Copa final]. Sport (in Spanish). 10 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  14. ^ a b Rojo, Luis F. (29 January 2018). "Barcelona youngster Kaptoum to join Real Betis". Marca. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  15. ^ Gillingham, Geoff (31 January 2018). "La Masia poster boys Bartra and Tello reunite at Real Betis". Marca. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  16. ^ "Betis 3–0 Dudelange". UEFA.com. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  17. ^ "Canales cierra los caminos" [Canales blocks the pathways] (in Spanish). Marca. 3 February 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  18. ^ "The transfer of Kaptoum to Almeria is now official". Sportsfinding. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  19. ^ "Wilfrid Kaptoum deja de pertenecer a la disciplina del Real Betis" [Wilfrid Kaptoum leaves Real Betis] (in Spanish). Real Betis. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  20. ^ Sigal, Jonathan (23 December 2020). "New England Revolution sign midfielder Wilfrid Kaptoum after La Liga stops". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Revolution continue to reshape roster for 2021 by signing midfielder Wilfrid Kaptoum". Boston Globe. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  22. ^ "New England Revolution announce year-end roster moves | New England Revolution". revolutionsoccer.net.
  23. ^ "Wilfrid Kaptoum, nuevo jugador de la UD Las Palmas" [Wilfrid Kaptoum, new player of UD Las Palmas] (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  24. ^ AEK Larnaca (2023-06-13). "Welcome to 𝐀𝐄𝐊 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐚, @Kaptoum5! 🔰". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  25. ^ Wilfrid Kaptoum at Soccerway. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  26. ^ "First Youth League title goes Barcelona's way". UEFA.com. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wilfrid Kaptoum.
Cameroon squad – 2019 Africa Cup of Nations
Categories