Gaël Kakuta

Gael Kakuta was born in Lille, on June 21, 1991. He holds both French and Democratic Republic of Congo passports.

Source Lazio Wiki

His first clubs in his youth were Lille-Moulins, Lens (1999-2007) and Chelsea.

In 2008-09 at Chelsea he trained with the first team but in February suffered a bad injury and was out for six months. He then made his debut the following season, on November 9 against Wolves. He made 4 appearances under Carlo Ancelotti and the Blues won the league and the FA Cup.

In 2010-11 he stayed on and made 12 appearances (5 in Premier) but in January was loaned to Fulham in the Premier League. The manager was Welshman Mark Hughes and the Cottagers finished 8th. Kakuta played 7 league games with 1 goal.

In 2011-12 he started with Bolton on loan. He played 6 games with 1 goal under Owen Coyle but in January left for Dijon in Ligue 1 on loan. The Trotters eventually finished 18th in the Premier League and were relegated.

At Dijon he played 16 games and scored 5 goals. Dijon finished 19th and relegated.

In 2012 he moved to Holland and joined Vitesse on loan. He stayed a season and a half making 40 appearances and scoring 4 goals. Vitesse finished 4th in his first season. In his second he left in January 2014 and joined Lazio on loan. The Vites eventually finished 6th in the Eerste Divisie.

At Lazio the manager was Edy Reja and he only played 2 games (1 in A and 1 in Europa League). Lazio had a mediocre season and finished 9th. Lazio then decided not to exercise the option to buy clause so he returned to his parent club Chelsea.

In 2014-15 he spent a season on loan at Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish top flight. He played regularly making 35 league appearances with 5 goals. The Rayistas finished 11th under Paco Jémez.

In 2015 he signed for Sevilla but only played 5 games (2 in Liga) and scored 1 goal under Unai Emery before leaving in January. The Rojiblancos eventually finished 7th and won the Europa League (Liverpool 3-1)

In January 2016 he flew to China and played a season with Hebei CFFC from Qinhuangdao. He played 24 league games and scored 2 goals.

In January 2017 he returned to Spain and joined Deportivo La Coruña He played 10 league games and scored 2 goals. The Dépor finished 16th in La Liga under Gaizka Garitano.

In 2017-18 he spent a season in Ligue 1, in France with Amiens. He played regularly making 38 appearances (36 in league) with 6 goals. Les Licornes (Unicorns) finished 13th under manager Christophe Pélissier.

In 2018-19 he went back to Rayo Vallecano. The manager was still Jémez but Los Franjirrojos finished 20th and relegated. Kakuta played 12 league games with 1 goal.

In 2019-20 he was back in Amiens. He played 24 league games with 2 goals and the Unicorns finished 19th and were relegated under Slovenian Luka Elsner.

In 2020 he stayed in France but signed for his original club Lens. He stayed two full seasons and played a total of 69 games with 14 goals. Les Sangs et Or (Blood and Gold) finished 7th twice, both under Franck Haise. In October 2022, after 2 more league games, he left and returned to Amiens.

Amiens were now in Ligue 2 and he stayed two seasons. He played 44 total games with 12 goals. Amiens finished 14th and 8th under Patrice Descamps and Omar Daf.

In 2024 Kakuta went to play in the Iranian league. He joined Esteghlal in Teheran and played a total of 18 games before leaving in February.

He then returned to Europe and signed for Sakaryaspor from Adapazari in the Turkish second tier (TFF.1). He played out the season finishing 16th and playing 8 league games with 1 goal. He stayed on in 2025-26 with the Anadolu Günesi (Anatolian Sun).

Kakuta played at all age levels with France; U-16s (12 games, 5 goals), U-17s (14 games, 3 goals), U-18s (5 games, 3 goals), U-19s (13 games, 4 goals), U-20s (11 games, 2 goals), U-21s (18 games, 6 goals). With France he won a European Championship silver medal with the U-17s and gold with the U-19s when he was also voted best player of the tournament. From 2016 he has opted to represent the Democratic Republic of Congo for whom he has played 30 times with 5 goals.

Kakuta is an attacking midfielder. He is 1.73 and 66 kilos so not a heavyweight. At the beginning of his career he was considered a real talent with great potential. In 2010 he was in the Don Balón magazine's list of best players born after 1989. For his characteristics he was likened to Florent Malouda. He has had a decent career especially in France but has not lived up to expectations.

At Lazio he was not considered ready and not given much of a chance. His career since seems to have validated this choice as, unlike Pedro Neto later, Kakuta never really made it at top level.

Lazio Career

Season	Total Appearances	Serie A	Europa League
2013-14	2	1	1

Sources

Wikipedia