Aaron Wan-Bissaka
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 02/2026
Personal information
Full name
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Date of birth
26 November 1997
Place of birth
Croydon, England
Height
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position
Right-back
Team information
Current team
West Ham United
Number
29
Youth Career
Crystal Palace
Junior Elite Academy
2009-2017
Senior Career*
Crystal Palace
2017-2019
42x apps 0x goal
Manchester United
2019-2024
130x apps 2x goals
West Ham United
2024-
52x apps 2x goals
International career‡
DR Congo U20
2015
1x goal 0x goal
England U20
2018
2x apps 0x goal
England U21
2018-2019
3x apps 0x goal
DR Congo
2025-
9x apps 0x goal
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:01, 7 February 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 19:45, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Premier League club West Ham United.
Born in England, he plays for the DR Congo national team. An academy graduate of hometown club Crystal Palace, Wan-Bissaka made his senior debut in 2018 and quickly rose to prominence, being named the club's Player of the Year in his only full season.
In 2019, he moved to Manchester United for £50 million, winning an EFL Cup and FA Cup with the club before departing for West Ham in 2024.
Early Life
Wan-Bissaka was born in Croydon, Greater London, and grew up in New Addington, Croydon, where he attended Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School.
Club Career
Crystal Palace
Wan-Bissaka was a member of the Crystal Palace academy from the age of 11, where he started as a winger.
He signed a professional contract with the club in December 2016.
On the 2017 pre-season tour, Wan-Bissaka began to feature with the Palace first team under new manager Frank de Boer, playing in several friendlies.
The Dutchman played a formation with wing-backs, and this new role emphasised Wan-Bissaka's defensive capabilities, eventually leading to him moving from a winger to a full-back.
However, he saw chances limited in the first half of the season as De Boer showed a preference to play Timothy Fosu-Mensah or Martin Kelly at right-back, then new manager Roy Hodgson favoured Joel Ward.
He was an unused substitute a few times under the new manager, while also starring for the Eagles U23 side.
On 25 February 2018, Wan-Bissaka made his first-team debut for Crystal Palace, in the midst of an injury crisis, in a Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park, which resulted in a 1:0 defeat.
He played all but two minutes of the four Palace matches in March and won the club's Player of the Month award with 65% of the supporters' votes.
On 20 August 2018, Wan-Bissaka was sent off in a 2:0 loss to Liverpool for denying Mohamed Salah a clear goalscoring opportunity.
He was named the club's Player of the Month for August, September, October and March.
On 7 April 2019, he extended his contract with the club until 2022.
Later that month, he was named Crystal Palace Player of the Year for his displays throughout the season.
Manchester United
On 29 June 2019, Wan-Bissaka signed a five-year contract with fellow Premier League club Manchester United.
Crystal Palace would receive an initial fee of £45 million, with another £5 million due in potential bonuses.
Upon signing for Manchester United, Wan-Bissaka became the sixth-most expensive defender of all time and the most expensive English player who was uncapped by the national side at the time of transfer.
He made his debut for the club on 11 August, playing the full 90 minutes in a 4:0 league victory over Chelsea.
At the end of his first season at Manchester United, he made the highest number of tackles in the 2019-20 Premier League season.
On 17 October 2020, as United won 4:1 at Newcastle United, he scored the first goal of his professional career.
On 2 February 2021, he scored the opening goal in United's Premier League record-equalling 9:0 win over Southampton.
Wan-Bissaka missed a significant part of the first half of the 2022-23 season due to illnesses or injuries, with Diogo Dalot starting at right-back in the majority of United's games.
He returned to the pitch after the World Cup break in impressive form, with manager Erik ten Hag praising his improvements.
West Ham United
On 13 August 2024, West Ham United announced the signing of Wan-Bissaka on a seven-year contract for a reported fee of £15 million.
On 25 November, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2:0 victory over Newcastle United at St James' Park.
He scored his second consecutive goal in the next game, a 2:5 loss to Arsenal at home in the London Stadium on 30 November.
In the 2024-25 season, he led all defenders with 66 interceptions and 64 successful dribbles.
In May 2025, he became the 45th different recipient of the club's Hammer of the Year award.
He started 36 games of 40 played during the season by the club, scoring two goals and providing four assists. He also led the team in tackles and interceptions.
International Career
Wan-Bissaka was born in England and is of Congolese descent.
Wan-Bissaka made a single appearance for DR Congo U20s in an 8:0 friendly loss to the England U17s on 7 October 2015.
However, he remained eligible to represent the country of his birth and, after impressing for Crystal Palace, Wan-Bissaka was called up to the England under-20 squad in March 2018.
He was sent off during his debut against Poland, although England still won 1:0.
Wan-Bissaka was called up to the England U21 squad for the first time in September 2018 and made his debut for them on 6 September, playing 90 minutes in a 0:0 draw with the Netherlands at Carrow Road.
On 27 May 2019, Wan-Bissaka was included in England's 23-man squad for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
He made one appearance in the tournament, a 2:1 loss against France, in which he scored an own goal.
In August 2019, Wan-Bissaka received his first call-up to the senior England team, ahead of UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers against Kosovo and Bulgaria, but was forced to withdraw from the squad due to a back injury.
Since the withdrawal, competition with the likes of Kyle Walker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier and Reece James at right-back meant that Wan-Bissaka had yet to feature for the senior team.
In May 2019, he asserted his intention to pursue an international career with England, stating, "the aim is England.
I am happy playing with England and representing England, so that is what I am going to continue doing". Wan-Bissaka later expressed an interest in representing his ancestral DR Congo at the senior level.
Media speculation also supported the claim of his potential nationality switch, even though he had not done so by the end of 2024.
Wan-Bissaka received a call-up to the DR Congo national team for the friendlies against Mali and Madagascar in June 2025.
On 22 August 2025, Wan-Bissaka's request to switch international allegiance to the DR Congo was approved by FIFA.
On 5 September 2025, he made his international debut for DR Congo, playing in a 4:1 2026 World Cup qualification win against South Sudan at the Juba Stadium in Juba.
Style Of Play
Wan-Bissaka is primarily a defensively minded right-back, known for his pace, slide tackling and ability in one-on-one defensive duels.
He was described as the "best one-on-one defender for a full-back in the world" by Jamie Carragher in 2020.
In the 2019-20 Premier League season, Wan-Bissaka made the joint-highest number of tackles, level with Wilfred Ndidi on 129.