Cephas Malele

Cephas Malele grew up in Switzerland after moving there as a child from Buco-Zau, Cabinda, before Palermo's academy took him to Italy as a teenager. He broke into senior football with FC Zürich II, then spent his Palermo years shuttled out on loan across Portugal and Italy — Atlético CP, Leixões, Varzim, Virtus Entella, Trapani. He won the Serie B title with Palermo in the 2013–14 season, though by then the loans had already scattered his development across two countries.

The move that reshaped his career came later, in Romania. At Argeș Pitești he scored 18 goals in the 2020–21 season, and it opened the door to a loan spell at CFR Cluj. From there he went to Saudi Arabia with Al-Tai before a transfer to Shanghai Shenhua in March 2023: 27 goals in 55 appearances, along with the Chinese FA Cup in 2023 and the Chinese FA Super Cup in 2024.

He became a free agent in December 2024 and signed with Dalian Yingbo the following January, where he now leads the line as centre-forward. Malele represented Switzerland at youth level, earning 19 caps and scoring 7 goals between the U15 and U19 age groups, but a senior call-up has not followed.