Emilio Nsue

Emilio Nsue López (born 30 September 1989) is a professional footballer who plays for Primera Federación club Intercity.

Born in Spain, he captained the Equatorial Guinea national team, of which he is the all-time top scorer.

A versatile player, he plays mainly as a right-back but can also play as a winger.

Nsue began his career at Mallorca, where he appeared in 153 competitive games and four La Liga seasons, and spent time on loan at Real Sociedad and Castellón.

As Nsue was born in Spain to an Equatoguinean father and a Spanish mother, he was eligible to represent both nations at international level, and initially played for Spain at youth level, winning European championships at under-19 level in 2007 and under-21 level in 2011.

He made his professional debut for the club on 3 February 2008, playing the last few minutes of a 1–1 draw at Villarreal.

He added a few more minutes the following week, in a goalless home draw with Almería.

For 2008–09, Nsue was loaned to Castellón of the Segunda División.

Regularly used in a comfortable campaign for the Valencians, he scored twice in a 4–1 win at home to Levante on 18 October 2008.

Nsue joined another second-tier club, Real Sociedad, on loan for the 2009–10 season.

Although rarely a starter, he was an important member of the attack as the Basque team 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 with Real Madrid.

On 3 October 2010 he scored his first competitive goal for the club, heading in from a corner in a 1–1 draw at Barcelona.

He appeared in all 38 league games and netted four times as his team narrowly avoided 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.

In 2013, he made his senior international debut for Equatorial Guinea, his father's country, and two years later represented that nation at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

He played in two further Africa Cup of Nations tournaments in 2021 and 2023, being the top scorer of the latter, receiving the Golden Boot as a result.

Nsue was born in Palma, Majorca, in the Balearic Islands, and began his football career as a forward in the youth system of Mallorca.

In 2014, he joined English club Middlesbrough, and helped them gain promotion to the Premier League in 2016.

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 on 25 May 2015.

They lost 2–0 to Norwich City, and 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 used 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 to complete a 2–0 win at Huddersfield Town.

On 15 December, he netted the only goal of a home win over Burnley that put Middlesbrough top of the table.

Nsue played 37 of 46 league games in 2015–16 as Boro achieved automatic promotion to the Premier League.

He played the first three undefeated matches in the top flight, before being dropped for Antonio Barragán.

Nsue signed for Birmingham City in January 2017, and a year later moved into Cypriot football, spending 18 months with APOEL, a season with Apollon Limassol, and another season with APOEL.

After six months without a club, he joined Bosnian Premier League club Tuzla City in 2022, before joining Spanish club Intercity later in the same year.

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 add-ons.

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.

He was an unused substitute for the next match, but appeared in every match thereafter, and "single-handedly tred to drag Blues up the pitch" in the final fixture of the season, away to Bristol City, which his team needed to win to avoid relegation.

His only goal of the campaign came against Queens Park Rangers on 18 February in stoppage time in a 4–1 home defeat.

Changes of management and personnel, and the need to stabilise a struggling team, meant Nsue was no longer a first choice in the 2017–18 side.

He played regularly under Harry Redknapp's management in the early part of the season, but Steve Cotterill preferred the more defensive Maxime Colin at right back, and in the January 2018 transfer window, Nsue was allowed to leave.

Nsue signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Cypriot First Division champions APOEL in January 2018; the fee was undisclosed.