Rabbi Matondo (born 9 September 2000) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for German club Schalke 04 and the Wales national football team. Early career
Matondo began his career as a youth player with Cardiff City. In 2016, he moved to Premier League side Manchester City for a small compensation fee under the Elite Player Performance Plan, an initiative created by the Premier League regarding movement of youth players. Cardiff appealed against the move and Matondo was blocked from playing for Manchester City until March 2017 when the appeal was denied. However, a fee of £500,000 was reported to have been agreed. He made his debut for the Manchester City U21 side in the EFL Trophy on 15 August 2017 against Rotherham United, scoring his first goal in the side's following match, a 2–1 defeat to Bradford City. He added two more goals in the next edition of the tournament: the game's only away to Tranmere Rovers in the final group game, and one more in a 3–3 draw at Barnsley in the second round, as well as netting in the subsequent penalty shootout win. Schalke 04
On 30 January 2019, Matondo signed for Bundesliga club Schalke 04 for a reported fee of up to £11 million on a four-and-a-half-year deal. He made his professional league debut three days later in a 2–0 home loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach, as a 75th-minute substitute for Sebastian Rudy; on 16 February he was given a start in a goalless home draw with SC Freiburg. On 28 September 2019, he scored his first goal for Schalke in a 3–1 away victory over RB Leipzig. International career
Matondo was eligible to represent DR Congo, England or Wales at international level. He represented England at under-15 level before switching allegiance to Wales at under-17 level. He received his first call up to the Wales under-21 squad in September 2017, making his debut for the side in a 3–1 victory over Liechtenstein. After appearing in four qualifying matches as a substitute, he made his first start for the under-21 side in a 1–1 draw with Georgia in the second of two friendlies against the nation in June 2018. In November 2018, Matondo received his first call up for the senior Welsh squad for a friendly against Albania. He made his international debut during the match on 20 November as a 78th-minute substitute in place of Sam Vokes as Wales lost 1–0 in Elbasan. In May 2019, after travelling back to England from a Welsh national team training camp in Portugal, Matondo was escorted from the plane by police after "behaving disruptively". |
