Saël Kumbedi Nseke

Saël Kumbedi came through the Paris Saint-Germain academy before moving on to CC Taverny and then Le Havre, where he made his senior debut in 2021 and went on to make six appearances for the club. Olympique Lyonnais paid €1 million for him in August 2022, a deal that left Le Havre with a 15% sell-on clause. Kumbedi went on to make 52 appearances for Lyon between 2022 and 2025, and was on the losing side in the 2023–24 Coupe de France final.

His move to Germany began as a loan: Wolfsburg took him in August 2025 for a €1 million fee with a €6 million option to buy, which the club exercised in December 2025, completing a permanent transfer worth up to €8 million with bonuses and leaving Lyon with a 10% sell-on clause. He made 24 Bundesliga appearances in his first season, setting up five goals without scoring, though he initially had to fight Kilian Fischer for a starting place and found the adjustment to a new country difficult because of the language barrier. He returned from a spell on international duty in April 2026 with a muscle injury.

Kumbedi's biggest moment on a pitch so far came at youth level: he scored twice in the final of the 2022 UEFA European Under-17 Championship as France beat the Netherlands 2–1.