Mustapha Bundu

Mustapha Bundu Shong Hames (born 28 February 1997) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a forward for FC Andorra, on loan from Belgian club Anderlecht. He also represents the Sierra Leonean national team.[1]

Mustapha Bundu
Bundu in 2022
Personal information
Full name Mustapha Bundu Shong Hames
Date of birth (1997-02-28) 28 February 1997
Place of birth Freetown, Sierra Leone
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Andorra
(on loan from Anderlecht)
Number 18
Youth career
Craig Bellamy Academy
Hartpury College
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015 Newquay 1 (2)
2015–2016 Hereford 29 (26)
2016–2020 AGF 101 (17)
2020– Anderlecht 10 (0)
2021 → Copenhagen (loan) 14 (1)
2021–2022 → AGF (loan) 22 (3)
2022– → Andorra (loan) 14 (2)
International career
2019– Sierra Leone 11 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 January 2023

Born in Freetown, Bundu started playing youth football for the Craig Bellamy Academy before moving to the United Kingdom to play for Hartpury College. He then went on to appear for lower league sides Newquay and Hereford. In 2016, Bundu signed for Danish Superliga club AGF after a successful trial. After growing out to become an important player for the first team, he transferred to Anderlecht in 2020.

After multiple call-ups for the Sierra Leone national team, Bundu made his international debut on 4 September 2019 in a game against Liberia.

Club career

Early career

The native of Freetown, Sierra Leone, spent his youth football playing in the Craig Bellamy Academy before obtaining a student visa to study at Hartpury College to further pursue his football career.[2]

He graduated from Hartpury College in 2016,[3] scoring 18 goals in six outings in the English Schools' FA Cup.[4]

Hereford

Whilst visiting a friend, he featured for Newquay once on 23 August 2015 in a 2–2 South West Peninsula League draw against Ivybridge Town,[5] netting two goals in less than thirty minutes as a substitute. Newquay manager Sash Wheatman acclaimed him as "the best player he's had the privilege of watching at this level of football", adding "it was like bringing on Ronaldo on or Gareth Bale – he was streets ahead".[4]

Bundu spent a season at Hereford, winning three trophies and reaching the FA Vase final in 2016. Work authorisation restrictions only allowed him to play his trade in a club no higher than step five of the English non-league pyramid, the ninth tier overall in the English football league system, which forced him to leave Hereford as they had been promoted to step four (tier eight). The goalscorer returned briefly to spectate one of their games, a 6–0 defeat of Bridgwater Town in the Southern Football League.[6]

AGF

Bundu went on a trial with Danish Superliga club AGF in early August 2016.[7] After a successful trial, he signed a contract with the club on 31 August 2016.[8]

In an away defeat to Brøndby IF, he made his Superliga debut as a substitute on 23 October 2016. He came on the pitch in the 78th minute, replacing Martin Spelmann.[9] In December 2016, Bundu extended his contract until 2021.[10]

Bundu had his breakout season in 2019–20, scoring eight goals in the first 20 league matches of the season,[1] and being named Superliga Player of the Month for September 2019.[11] He finished the season with 10 goals in 30 total appearances, as he helped AGF finish in third place in the Superliga-table; the club's first top-three finish in 23 years.[12] Bundu's season would, however, be hampered in the last month by contracting COVID-19 which kept him out for the last few games of the season.[13][14]

Anderlecht

On 7 August 2020, Bundu joined Belgian club Anderlecht for an undisclosed fee, believed to be between DKK 25–30 million – making him the most expensive sale in the history of AGF.[15] He signed a four-year contract with Anderlecht.[13]

Playing only nine games for Anderlecht, Bundu decided to go out on loan and returned to Denmark, signing a loan deal with Copenhagen for the rest of the season with an option to buy.[16] On 1 September 2021, Bundu returned to AGF on loan for the rest of the season.[17]

On 1 September 2022, Bundu joined FC Andorra of the Spanish Segunda División on a one-year loan deal.[18]

International career

Bundu received his first international call-up in August 2018, being a member of a preliminary squad.[19] However, he did not make the final 23-man squad.[20] He made his debut in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Liberia on 4 September 2019, which ended as their 3–1 defeat.[21]

List of international goals scored by Mustapha Bundu
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
113 November 2020Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, Nigeria Nigeria4-34-42021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
222 March 2023Stade Adrar, Agadir, Morocco São Tomé and Príncipe1-12–22023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Career statistics

Club
As of 25 August 2021
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
AGF 2016–17 Danish Superliga 12120——141
2017–18 31422——336
2018–19 31410——324
2019–20 27832——3010
Total 1011784——10921
Anderlecht 2020–21 Belgian First Division A 9000——90
2021–22 100010—20
Total 1000010—110
Copenhagen (loan) 2020–21 Danish Superliga 141———141
Career total 125984100013422

Honours

Individual

References
  1. Mustapha Bundu at Soccerway
  2. "Mustapha Bundu's journey from war-torn Sierra Leone to Wembley - The Set Pieces". thesetpieces.com. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  3. "Mustapha Bundu - Hudl". hudl.com. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  4. "Hartpury College striking sensation Mustapha Bundu shoots for the Premier League | Xtratimewest". Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  5. "Town held by Cornish". Dartmouth Chronicle. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  6. "VIDEO: Bundu on what playing for Hereford FC meant for him". Hereford Times. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  7. AGF tester angriber‚ bold.dk, 2 August 2016
  8. AGF skriver med Bundu‚ bold.dk, 31 August 2016
  9. "Football Sierra Leone | Mustapha Bundu makes first AGF Aarhus appearance in away defeat". footballsierraleone.net. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  10. AGF forlænger med fire mand‚ bold.dk, 5 December 2016
  11. Nøhr, Mikkel (6 October 2019). "Mustapha Bundu er månedens SL-spiller". bold.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  12. "AGF får bronze trods nederlag til Brøndby". dr.dk. Danmarks Radio. 26 July 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  13. Calcoen, Pieter-Jan (7 August 2020). "Bundu, met de B van Bellamy, tekent voor vier jaar: nieuwste Anderlecht-aanwinst op z'n 17de op negende niveau in Engeland". hln.be. Het Laatste Nieuws. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  14. Leer Scharnberg, Martin; Højris Schmidt, Lasse; Messer, Anders Keld (22 July 2020). "AGF-angriber testet positiv for corona: Ude resten af sæsonen". dr.dk. Danmarks Radio. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  15. Elkjær, Kenneth (7 August 2020). "Officielt: Bundu er solgt i historisk stor handel". tv2ostjylland.dk. TV 2/Østjylland. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  16. BUNDU KLAR FOR F.C. KØBENHAVN, fck.dk, 26 January 2021
  17. BUNDU VENDER HJEM TIL AGF Archived 26 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine, agf.dk, 31 August 2021
  18. "Mustapha Bundu, una bala per a l'atac tricolor" [Mustapha Bundu, a bullet to the tricolour attack] (in Catalan). FC Andorra. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  19. Barrie, Mohamed Fajah (24 August 2018). "Bellamy academy graduate Mustapha Bundu gets Sierra Leone call-up". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  20. Barrie, Mohamed Fajah (28 August 2018). "Sierra Leone coach explains Bellamy graduate Bundu's absence". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  21. "Landsholdsdebut til Mustapha Bundu - AGF Fodbold". www.agf.dk. Archived from the original on 14 October 2019.
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