Emmanuel Longelo

Emmanuel Longelo Mbule (born 27 December 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left back for club Birmingham City. Longelo began his career with West Ham United and played first-team football in the EFL Cup and the Europa League before joining Birmingham City, initially on loan, in 2022.

Club career
Longelo started playing Sunday league football as a nine-year old for Euro Dagenham. He joined West Ham United's under-10 side playing as a midfielder and scored five goals on his debut, against Chelsea. Due to his pace he was moved to play as a striker. Playing for West Ham's under-23 team, Longelo played as a left-back. On 21 September 2020, Longelo made his debut for West Ham in a 5–1 EFL Cup win against Hull City.

He joined Birmingham City on a season-long loan on 30 August 2022. After recovering from injuries suffered earlier in the season, he made his debut on 1 October, starting at left wing-back in a 1–1 draw away to Championship leaders Sheffield United. In a 2–0 win over Queens Park Rangers on 28 October, he "received the ball on the left, twisted and turned past Ethan Laird and then found the bottom-right corner with a low curling finish" to score his first senior goal, and later gave away a penalty which was saved by John Ruddy.

Longelo signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Birmingham City on 31 January 2023. The fee, officially undisclosed, was reported by football.london as £400,000.

Personal life
Longelo was born in Barking, London, and is of Congolese descent. His older brother, Rosaire, played alongside him at West Ham before joining Newcastle United.