Mario Lemina

He has a son named Neals Lemina. The midfielder considers Neals his “inspiration” and has stated that despite his separation from his son’s mother, they both remain proud of him.

He has also been involved in a relationship with Fanny Neguesha, a Belgian model and singer and the ex-fiancée of former ‘Liverpool’ and ‘Manchester City’ striker Mario Balotelli. In March 2018, Lemina announced on his ‘Instagram’ account that Neguesha was expecting his second child (and their first together).

Mario Lemina was born on September 1, 1993, in Libreville, Gabon. He currently holds Gabonese and French citizenships.

He joined the ‘Lorient’ youth team at the age of 11 and remained with them until the 2012–2013 season.

Lemina’s efforts, while with the ‘Lorient’ youth team, were rewarded with a promotion to the first team during the 2012–2013 season, although he had begun training with the senior side at the age of 15. This was the only season he had spent with the team. Youth coach Regis Le Bris still remembers him fondly and states that his “…goal is that other young people follow the example of Mario.”

His work with the senior team of ‘Lorient’ was not extensive but impressive enough to warrant attention from other teams. The ‘Ligue 1’ team ‘Marseille’ acquired him for €4 million at the beginning of the 2013–2014 season. During his first season with ‘Marseille,’ he was not given much playtime and struggled to make much of an impact. He only made 8 league starts during this entire period.

In 2013, Lemina was part of France’s ‘Under-20’ and ‘Under-21’ teams. He was also part of the ‘U-20 World Cup’-winning French team, alongside Paul Pogba. His international coach at the time, Jose Anigo, believed Lemina had “above-average abilities.”

His second season with ‘Marseille’ (2014–2015) proved more fruitful, as manager Marcelo Bielsa began to make greater use of his talents and believed that “He is a different type of player to the majority of footballers.” Lemina was credited with helping ‘Marseille’ finish fourth in the league. He made 23 league appearances in the season. It must be noted that his tenure with ‘Marseille’ was not free of controversy. In February 2015, he was shown a red card and was punished with a four-game ban by the ‘Ligue de Football Professionnel’ (LFP), for punching ‘Rennes’ striker Ola Toivonen in the groin. His team supported him, claiming this punishment was “severe” and that he had exhibited good behavior earlier.

While playing for ‘Marseille,’ he was also called up by the Gabonese national team to play in the 2015 ‘African Cup of Nations,’ but he refused in the hope that France would select him instead. However, he later changed his mind and decided to join the ‘Gabonese Federation,’ and he continues to be an official member of the Gabonese national team. He scored 1 goal in a 3¬–3 friendly match against Tunisia in his debut for the ‘Panthers.’

Lemina was part of the French team that won the 2013 ‘U-20 World Cup.’

He played for ‘Juventus’ in the 2015–2016 and the 2016–2017 seasons as the club clinched two consecutive domestic doubles.

His move to ‘Southampton’ prompted the club to pay a record £15.4 million as his transfer fee. He attempted 27 take-ons in the 2016–2017 season and was able to complete at least 63% of these. He also completed 90% of all the passes he undertook that season and only had the ball taken away from him once every 225 minutes, on an average.