Mustapha Carayol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 09/2016
Personal information
Full name
Mustapha Soon Carayol
Date of birth
4 September 1988
Place of birth
Banjul, Gambia
Height
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position
Winger
Club information
Current team
Nottingham Forest
Number
tba
Youth career
Swindon Town
Macclesfield Town
Senior career
Milton Keynes Dons
2007-2008
0x apps / 0x goal
→ Crawley Town (loan)
2007-2008
25x apps / 2x goals
Torquay United
2008-2010
50x apps / 6x goals
→ Kettering Town (loan)
2009
5x apps / 0x goal
Lincoln City
2010-2011
33x apps / 3x goals
Bristol Rovers
2011-2012
30x apps / 4x goals
Middlesbrough
2012-2016
50x apps / 11x goals
→ Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)
2015
5x apps / 0x goal
→ Huddersfield Town (loan)
2015-2016
15x apps / 3x goals
→ Leeds United (loan)
2016
12x apps / 1x goal
Nottingham Forest
2016-
0x apps / 0x goal
National team
Gambia
2015-
3x apps / 1x goal
(* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:20, 8 May 2016 (UTC) - National team caps and goals correct as of 18:24, 21 November 2015 (UTC)
Mustapha Soon Carayol is a Gambian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Nottingham Forest and for the Gambian national team.
Career
Early career
Born in Banjul, Carayol began his career as a youth player with Swindon Town and when Paul Ince moved from Swindon to become manager of Macclesfield Town in 2006 he took Carayol with him as a trainee.
At the time he was quoted as saying "I'm happy to clean the whole first team's boots all season for this opportunity".
Milton Keynes Dons
When Ince became manager of Milton Keynes Dons in 2007, he signed Carayol again, offering him his first professional contract.
He made his first team debut for MK Dons against Sheffield United in the League Cup in August 2007 and went on to appear in one further cup game.
In October 2007 he joined Crawley Town on loan to gain further first team experience.
Torquay United
On 13 July 2008, he was signed by Torquay United.
On 17 September 2009 he joined Kettering Town on a three-month emergency loan deal.
Lincoln City
Carayol turned down a new contract at Torquay at the end of the 2009-10 season.
In May 2010 it was announced that Lincoln City had agreed terms with the player although a fee would have to be set to determine how much compensation Lincoln City must pay Torquay due to Carayol being under the age of 24.
In August it was announced that a deal had been struck between the two clubs with Lincoln paying £35,000 over staged payments plus other clauses.
In May 2011 he was made available for transfer by the club after a mass clear out of players following relegation from the Football League.
Bristol Rovers
On 17 June 2011, Bristol Rovers signed Carayol for an undisclosed fee, on a two-year deal. His performances in League 2 attracted the attention of Championship club Barnsley who had a bid turned down for him in January.
In May 2012, Bristol Rovers confirmed they had turned down a 6 figure bid from an unnamed Championship club for Carayol and had opened talks with him about extending his contract.
Middlesbrough
Carayol signed for Middlesbrough on a three-year deal on 1 August 2012, for an undisclosed fee, making his debut in a 2:1 win at Bury.
After missing the start of Middlesbrough's league campaign, Carayol returned in the second round of the League Cup against Gillingham on 28 August 2012, in which he scored his first goal for the club.
He scored his first league goal for Middlesbrough on 15 September 2012, against Ipswich Town on his home debut, scoring in stoppage time in a 2:0 victory.
On 16 April, Carayol scored in a 1:0 home win over Nottingham Forest.
Since joining Middlesbrough Carayol has become affectionately known as Muzzy.
On 31 August 2013, Carayol scored in a 1:1 home draw with Sheffield Wednesday.
On 18 March 2014, Carayol ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against Bournemouth in a 0:0 draw, which would keep him out for the remainder of the season and also a large proportion of the following 2014/15 season.
Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)
On 26 March 2015, Carayol signed a loan contract with Brighton & Hove Albion for the rest of the season in order to regain match fitness.
Huddersfield Town (loan)
On 27 August 2015, Carayol joined fellow Football League Championship side Huddersfield Town on a season-long loan.
He made his début as a substitute in the 1:0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers on 29 August at the John Smith's Stadium.
He scored his first goal for the club in the 4:1 win over Bolton Wanderers on 19 September.
After 15 appearances, scoring 3 league goals, Carayol's season-long loan with Huddersfield Town was cut short and he left the club at the beginning of January.
Leeds United (loan)
On 8 January 2016, Carayol joined fellow Championship side Leeds United until the end of the season.
He scored on his debut appearance on 9 January 2016 against Rotherham United to help Leeds advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
On 26 January 2016, Carayol scored his second goal for Leeds in a 1:1 draw with Brentford.
International career
In 2015, Carayol was capped by Gambia and made his debut against Uganda in a 1:1 draw.
He gained his second cap against Mauritania in March 2016 where he scored a brilliant solo goal, he made his international home debut in a 0:0 draw a few days later.