Emilio Nsue

Mallorca

Nsue was born in Palma, Majorca, in the Balearic Islands. An RCD Mallorca youth graduate, he made his professional debut for the club on 3 February 2008, playing injury time in a 1–1 draw at Villarreal. He added five more minutes the following week, in a goalless home draw against Almería.

For 2008–09, Nsue was loaned to Castellón in the Segunda División. Regularly used in a comfortable campaign for the Valencians, he scored twice in a home game against Levante on 18 October 2008 (4–1).

Nsue joined another second-tier club, Real Sociedad, on loan for the season. Although rarely a starter, he was an important offensive unit as the Basque side ultimately returned to La Liga after a three-year absence.

Nsue returned to Mallorca for 2010–11 and began the season in the starting eleven, the first match being a 0–0 home draw against Real Madrid. On 3 October 2010 he scored his first official goal for the club, heading in from a corner at Barcelona in a 1–1 draw; he appeared in all 38 league games and netted four times, with his team narrowly avoiding relegation.

In 2011–12 Nsue played in several matches as an attacking right back, and totalled nearly 2,000 minutes of action (20 starts) to help Mallorca rank eighth. After conversations with manager Joaquín Caparrós during pre-season, it was agreed that he would start the following campaign in that position.

Middlesbrough

On 1 August 2014, Nsue joined English Football League Championship club Middlesbrough, signing a three-year contract as a free agent – he was signed by Aitor Karanka, who knew him from the Spanish youth set-up. Eight days later he made his debut, coming on as a substitute for Albert Adomah for the last 23 minutes of a 2–0 win over Birmingham City at the Riverside Stadium. On 12 August he made his first start, playing the whole of a 3–0 win at Oldham Athletic in the first round of the 2014–15 League Cup.

Boro reached the play-off final at Wembley Stadium on 25 May 2015, a 2–0 defeat to Norwich City where Nsue played the second half in place of Dean Whitehead after both goals had already been conceded. Despite Karanka's insistence that the player would only be put in defence as an emergency procedure, he played much of his second season at right back. On 28 November 2015, he scored his first goal in English football, concluding a 2–0 win at Huddersfield Town; on 15 December, he netted the only goal of a home win over Burnley, putting his team into first place.

Birmingham City

Nsue signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Birmingham City of the Championship on 18 January 2017; the fee, officially undisclosed, was believed by the Birmingham Mail to be £1m with a further £1m in addons. He made his debut in the starting eleven for the league visit to Norwich City on 28 January, playing at right back; Birmingham lost 2–0. Nsue scored his first Birmingham City goal against Queens Park Rangers on 18 February in stoppage time in a 4–1 home defeat.

Spain

Born to an Equatoguinean father, Nsue rejected during several years the offer to represent the Equatorial Guinea national team at senior level. In 2009, after having appeared for Spain at various youth levels, he started playing with its under-21s.

Three years later, Nsue refused to play the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations with Equatorial Guinea as he wanted to be a part of the Spanish under-23 team that competed at the 2012 Olympics, but did not make the final cut.

Equatorial Guinea

In March 2013, accompanied by Federación Ecuatoguineana de Fútbol president Domingo Mituy and footballer Benjamín Zarandona, he signed a contract with the Federation and committed himself to attend all call-ups in which he was included, with the federation responsible for covering the costs and incentives.

Nsue scored on his debut for Equatorial Guinea in an unofficial friendly with Benin on 21 March 2013, being team captain and playing the first 45 minutes. He was again captain on his first official appearance, scoring a hat-trick in a 4–3 win over Cape Verde in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier; both games against the latter opponent would later be considered invalid and FIFA awarded two 0–3 losses to the Nzalang, stating the player was not eligible.

Nsue was Equatorial Guinea's captain as they hosted the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, eventually coming fourth. He scored the tournament's first goal, netting in a 1–1 draw against the Republic of the Congo on 17 January at the Estadio de Bata.

Career statistics

International goals

Country

Spain U19

Spain U20

Spain U21