Mandela Keita

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Mandela Keita
Personal information
Full name Lamine Mandela Keita[1]
Date of birth (2002-05-10) 10 May 2002
Place of birth Leuven, Belgium
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
Parma
Number 16
Youth career
2009–2021 OH Leuven
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021–2024 OH Leuven 35 (0)
2023 → Royal Antwerp (loan) 17 (1)
2023–2024 → Royal Antwerp (loan) 28 (0)
2024 Royal Antwerp 5 (0)
2024– Parma 67 (1)
International career‡
2021–2024 Belgium U21 12 (0)
2023– Belgium 2 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 25 May 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:45, 5 October 2026 (UTC)

Lamine Mandela Keita (born 10 May 2002) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Serie A club Parma and the Belgium national team.[2]

Club career

Keita debuted for OH Leuven on 21 March 2021 in the away match against KV Mechelen.[3] Due to injury and lengthy recovery, Keita spent most of the first half of the 2022–23 season on the bench.

During the winter 2022–23 transfer window, Keita was loaned to Royal Antwerp to get more playing time, with a €10 million buy clause. At Antwerp, he played regularly and scored his first professional league goal as Antwerp became league champions for the first time in 66 years.

Keita was selected as part of the Belgium U21 squad for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. He returned to OHL in the summer of 2023, where he had a contract until 2025. Antwerp wanted to continue with Keita and after months of negotiations, and after Keita began appearing in the OH Leuven shirt, he was loaned again to Antwerp on 10 August 2023 for a full season, again with an estimated €7–8 million buy clause.[4]

On 30 August 2024, Keita moved to Parma in Italy.[5]

International career

Born in Belgium, Keita is of Guinean descent. He represented Guinea at youth international level, having played for the Belgium U21s.[6]

In October 2023, he received his first call-up to the Belgium senior national team for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Austria and Sweden.[7]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 10 May 2026[8]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
OH Leuven 2020–21 Pro League 10———10
2021–22 Pro League 25030——280
2022–23 Pro League 8020——100
2023–24 Pro League 10———10
Total 350500000400
Royal Antwerp (loan) 2022–23 Pro League 17120——191
2023–24 Pro League 280505[b]0—380
Royal Antwerp 2024–25 Pro League 50———50
Total 501705000621
Parma 2024–25 Serie A 30000——300
2025–26 Serie A 35130——381
Total 651300000681
Career total 150215050001702
Notes

International

As of match played 5 October 2026
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Belgium 202310
202610
Total20

Honours

Royal Antwerp

References

  1. "Mandela Keita: Player profile".
  2. Mandela Keita at Soccerway
  3. "Debuut Keita, terugkeer Tshimanga" [Debut Keita, return Tshimanga]. ohleuven.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  4. "Mandela Keita naar Antwerp". OHL - Oud-Heverlee Leuven (in Belgian Dutch). 8 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  5. "MANDELA KEITA IS A GIALLOBLU". Parma Calcio 1913. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  6. Meersseman, Herman (6 May 2021). "OHL-jeugdproduct Mandela Keita: "Hard werken voor een basisplaats"". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  7. "Niet Arthur Vermeeren, wel Mandela Keita is de grote verrassing in selectie Rode Duivels" [No Arthur Vermeeren, but Mandela Keita is the big surprise in the selection of the Red Devils]. sporza.be (in Dutch). Sporza. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  8. "Mandela Keita". Soccerway.com. 12 January 2026.