Dylan Mbayo

Dylan Mbayo left Belgium as a teenager to join a foreign league. He came through the KSC Lokeren academy, joined as a boy in 2008 and made his senior debut there in March 2019. Within months Gent paid around €1.3 million for him, and he added two goals in the Belgian Cup before a move to Kortrijk in 2021, where he went on to make 61 appearances.

It was in the Netherlands, away from Belgium's top flight, that Mbayo found his best form. Loaned first to FC Dordrecht and then to PEC Zwolle, he was named Eredivisie Player of the Month in November 2024 while wearing Zwolle's colours. The loan convinced the club to make the move permanent: in May 2025 they exercised an option to sign him outright for €425,000.

Mbayo has also been capped by Belgium at youth level, representing the country from under-16 through to under-19, though senior recognition has not followed yet. He now arrives at Laval on loan with an option to buy, a two-year arrangement that gives both sides time to judge whether the move suits him. Left-footed and left restless by his own admission through a string of Belgian clubs, he arrives in France.