Marvin Akahomen

Marvin Akahomen (born 15 July 2007) is a Swiss footballer who plays as a centre-back for Swiss Super League club Basel.

Club career

Akahomen started played football with local amateur club FC Affoltern, regularly advancing through the ranks, before moving to the youth sector of Grasshoppers in 2020, and then joining Basel's academy in August 2021. Having come through the latter club's youth ranks, he started featuring for Basel's reserve team in the Promotion League, the third tier of the Swiss football league system.

In April 2023, Akahomen received his first call-ups to the first team, under interim coach Heiko Vogel, following a number of injuries to squad players. He made his professional debut for Basel on 30 April 2023, coming on as a substitute for Riccardo Calafiori in the 89th minute of a 4–1 away league win over Winterthur: at 15 years and 285 days, he became the third youngest player to ever feature in a Swiss Super League match, behind Endoğan Adili and Sascha Studer, as well as the youngest defender to do so.

Two weeks later, on 14 May 2023, he made his first appearance in the starting eleven, but the league game ended with a 6–1 defeat by St. Gallen. At the age of 15 years and 303 days, he became the second youngest starter in a match of the Swiss top-flight, behind only goalkeeper Sascha Studer on 1 April 2007.

In the first half of the 2023–24 season these events, Akahomen featured for Basel's U-19 team in the UEFA Youth League.

International career

Thanks to his origins, Akahomen is eligible to represent either Switzerland or Nigeria internationally.

After playing for the Swiss under-15 and under-16 national teams, in May 2023 the defender was included in the final Swiss squad for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Hungary. During the tournament, Akahomen scored one goal, as Switzerland eventually got eliminated in the quarter-finals, before losing to England in the FIFA U-17 World Cup play-off.

Personal life

Born in Switzerland, Akahomen is of Nigerian descent.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 17 December 2023