La LigaSpanish Football

The Premier League’s Forgotten man lights up La Liga

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Cast your mind back just two years ago, when Premier League side Stoke City uncharacteristically splashed the cash to sign one of Europe’s most promising defensive midfielders for £21 million, despite featuring only ten times for Porto in Liga Nos during his first seven months for Dragões.

Since N’Golo Kanté made the number six somewhat sexy again, it seemed that every club was in search of a Kante-esque player and despite the price tag and various similarities to the French international Giannelli Imbula failed to impress at the Bet 365 and was swiftly shipped out to Toulouse on loan, where he featured 28 times, scoring once for Les Pitchouns.

The 26-year-old started his career at Guingamp in Ligue 1, where he quickly attracted the interest of French footballs powerhouses with Olympique Lyonnais, Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain all reported to have kept tabs on the youngster.

But it was Marseille who captured his signature and after months of speculation they had their man for a reported £6 million, which considering his future value looked like a shrewd piece of business.

His time at Marseille was very impressive, he began in l’OM’s B team before being upgraded to the senior side and went on to spend two years at the Stade Vélodrome before moving to Portugal.

A Dual national, who is yet to gain a full international cap, was born in Belgium but is also eligible to represent both the Democratic Republic of Congo and 2018 World Cup winners France who he has represented at both under-20 and under-21 levels.

After Stoke were relegated last season, Imbula was again surplus to requirements and left the club again on loan for a new chapter after speaking with former Rayo Vallecano and France youth international Gael Kakuta.

When speaking to the local media He said: “I hope everything goes well and we can have a good season.

“I did not know anyone from the Spanish League, it was Gael Kakuta who gave me advice and I hope that if he has told me to come and be happy I can do it in the best way possible. I had no references from other teams, just what Gael told me.”

Newly-promoted Vallecano had two defeats from their opening two games going into their clash with Huesca and after the rumours suggesting that Imbula would make his first start for the club rang true, the French under-21 international made his Spanish top-flight debut for Los Vallecanos.

It was a debut that couldn’t have gone any better for Imbula whose Déjà vu moment from his Stoke days saw his Left-Footed strike from 22-yards out, fly across the goalkeeper into the top corner to secure the clubs first La Liga three points of the season.