SherifSeveral professional Cameroonian footballers are making waves with their football careers. Some of them play for popular European clubs and it is obvious that they have gone a long way to appear amongst the richest footballers in Cameroon list.
In any discussion about the richest Cameroonian footballers, the legendary name ‘Samuel Eto’o Fils’ easily occupies people’s minds. Without any doubt, Samuel Eto’o is one of the richest world footballers and this has taken him to the limelight as Cameroon’s richest footballer.
This very article discusses the Top 10 Richest Footballers in Cameroon as well as the football club each of them plays for at the moment.
Top 10 Richest Footballers in Cameroon
1. Samuel Eto’o Fils
Samuel Eto’o Fils is a legendary African footballer. Unarguably, he is Cameroon’s greatest footballer with a good deal of accolades to his credit. He has been named Africa’s best player four times. In 2005, he claimed third place in FIFA’s ranking of the world’s best players.
Eto’o, who currently plays as a forward for Konyaspor, is Cameroon’s richest footballer and one of the richest footballers on the African continent. The prime of his football career surfaced during his spell at Barcelona where he won major trophies including Spanish La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. The Douala-born 37-years-old recorded a total of 108 goals in 145 appearances for Barcelona. He eventually left the Spanish giants for Serie’s Inter Milan in 2009. At the end of his 2-year spell at Inter Milan, the Cameroonian star had recorded a total of 33 goals in 67 appearances for the Serie A side.
Eto’o is an acclaimed player and he has been regarded as Africa’s most decorated footballer. His career successes, especially at Barcelona and AC Milan, have earned him awards and sumptuous wealth which place him among high-profile footballers in the world.
2. Alex Song
Alex Song (going by the birth name Alexandre Dimitri Song Billong) is a professional footballer of Cameroonian descent. He plays several roles as a central defender, defensive midfielder, or central midfielder. He is recognized for his strength as well as his passing ability.
Born in the Cameroonian area of Douala in 1987, Alex Song has graced his professional football career with spells at several football clubs including Bastia, Arsenal, Charlton Athletic, Barcelona, West Ham United, and Rubin Kazan where he currently plays. His football fame at the club level was influenced by his roughly 7-year spell at London-based Arsenal. Throughout his Arsenal spell, Alex Song recorded 7 goals from 143 appearances.
3. Nicolas Nkoulou
Nicolas Nkoulou (fully known as Nicolas Alexis Julio Nkoulou Ndoubena) is a professional footballer from Cameroon. Under a loan deal from Serie A side Lyon, he serves in the position of a defender for Torino. Meanwhile, he serves in the same position for the Cameroon national team.
Born in the Cameroonian capital -Yaounde- in 1990, Nicolas Nkoulou began his senior club-level career in 2008 playing for Monaco. In 2011, he joined Serie A side Marseille where he spent 5 years and recorded 5 goals in 162 appearances. His spell at Marseille ended following a deal that sealed his move to another Serie A side, Lyon, in 2016. Interestingly, Nkoulou is said to have started his career at the same Douala-based football academy from where Carlos Kameni, Eric Djemba-Djemba, and Samuel Eto’o Fils emerged.
4. Stephane Mbia Etoundi
Stephane Mbia Etoundi was born in the Cameroonian capital -Yaounde- in 1986. He is the skipper of the Cameroon national team where he plays the role of a defender. At the club level, he serves in the position of a defender (or defensive midfielder) for Hebei China Fortune F.C -one of the football clubs in the Chinese league.
In his senior career so far, Etoundi has played for a number of football clubs including Rennes, Marseille, Queens Park Rangers, Sevilla, Trabzonspor, and Hebei China Fortune where he currently plies his football career. He began his club-level senior career with Rennes in 2004. He left the club in 2009 after having clinched 4 goals from 105 appearances. His spell at Ligue 1 side Marseille lasted 3 years during which the Cameroonian defender claimed 5 goals from 69 appearances. His career at Hebei China Fortune reveals that he has scored 9 goals from the 39 appearances he has had for the Chinese side.
5. Joel Matip
Job Joel Andre Matip (professionally known as Joel Matip) is a senior-level footballer born in 1991. He plays for the duo of the Cameroon national team and England-based Liverpool as a central defender. Though a Cameroonian, Joel Matip was born in the German area of Bochum.
His club-level senior career began in 2009 when he was promoted to Schalke O4 II and he eventually left the team in 2016 after having claimed 17 goals from 194 appearances. His move to Liverpool came about in 2016 and since joining the Premier League side, he has contributed 2 goals in 54 appearances as a center back.
6. N’jie Clinton
Clinton Mua N’jie (professionally known as N’jie Clinton) is a senior-level footballer born in the Cameroonian area of Buea in 1993. He serves in the position of a winger/forward for the duo of the Cameroon national team and Ligue 1 side Marseille. He began his senior career in 2011 playing for France-based Lyon B. His career at the club ended in 2015 when he completed a move to Premier League side Tottenham. He scored no goal from a total of 8 appearances. Currently, he carries on his professional football career at Marseille where he has clinched 9 goals from 22 appearances. Though a young player of 24, Clinton N’jie has earned fame and reasonable wealth by playing for famous European clubs. Luckily, the young player is certain to increase massively in wealth in years to come.
7. Sebastien Bassong
Sebastien Bassong (fully known as Sebastien Aymar Bassong Nguena) is a professional Cameroonian footballer born in the French capital -Paris- in 1986. His most recent senior-career football appearance was for Norwich City where he serves as a defender.
His senior club-level career which he began with Metz in 2005 has seen him playing for other football clubs including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Norwich City, and Watford. He has been a part of Championship-tied Norwich City since 2012 and his ongoing spell at the club shows a record of 4 goals from 105 appearances. Within his Norwich City spell, Sebastien Bassong once served a loan term at Watford. The loan deal which lasted from 2014 to 2015 was marked by 11 appearances with no goal.
8. Aurelien Chedjou
Aurelien Bayard Chedjou Fongang (professionally known as Aurelien Chedjou) is a footballer who serves in the position of a center-back for the Cameroon national team and Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir. Born in the Cameroonian area of Douala in 1985, Aurelien Chedjou began his club-level senior career in 2003 playing for Pau FC.
In his professional career so far, he has played for several football clubs including Pau FC, Auxerre, Rouen, Lille, Galatasaray, and Instanbul Basaksehir. He joined his current club, Istanbul Basaksehir, in 2017 after having completed a 4-year spell at Galatasaray and scored 8 goals in 81 appearances for the Turkish club.
Aurelien Chedjou joined the Cameroon national team in 2009. As a center-back, he has contributed one goal in 47 appearances for the Cameroon national team.
9. Vincent Aboubakar
Vincent Aboubakar (fully known as Vincent Pate Aboubakar) is a professional footballer serving in the position of a striker for the Cameroon national team and FC Porto of Portugal. Born in the Cameroonian capital -Yaounde- in 1992, Vincent Aboubakar began his club-level senior career in 2009 playing for Coton Sport. At the end of his one-year stint at Coton Sport, he moved to Valenciennes in 2010. In 2013, he joined Lorient from Valenciennes.
Vincent Aboubakar joined his current team -Porto -in 2014 but from 2016 to 2017, he was sent on a loan deal to Besiktas where he recorded 12 goals in 27 appearances. In the course of his loan spell at Besiktas, Vincent Aboubakar won the Turkish Super Lig.
He marked his debut for the Cameroon national team in 2010. He represented his country in both 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. The 26-year-old striker also featured in the Cameroonian squads for the 2015 and 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
10. Henri Bedimo
Henri Bedimo (fully known as Henri Bedimo Nsame) is a professional Cameroonian footballer born in the Cameroonian area of Douala in 1984. He serves in the position of a left-back for both the Cameroon national team and Ligue 1 club Marseille.
At the club level, Henri Bedimo began his senior career in 2002. So far, he has played for several club sides including Grenoble, Toulouse, Le Havre, Chateauroux, Lens, Montpellier, Lyon, and Marseille. He joined his current club -Marseille -in 2016 after completing a 3-year stint at Lyon. As a left-back, he recorded one goal in 77 appearances for Lyon.
Bedimo joined the Cameroon national team in 2009 and over his professional career, he has contributed one goal in 47 appearances for his country.
That’s all about the richest footballers In Cameroon.
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