Portal:Football in Africa/Selected biography/24

Mario Lemina is a Gabonese professional footballer for English club Southampton and the Gabon national team. He played for French sides Lorient and Marseille, before joining Italian side Juventus in 2015, where he won the domestic double in both of his seasons with the club.

Lemina began his career in France with the Lorient youth academy at the age of 11; he was later promoted to the first team during the 2012–13 season, his only season with the club. The following season, he joined Marseille for €4 million, although he initially struggled to gain playing time in his first year with the club, making only eight league starts during the 2013–14 season. He began to be used more frequently by manager Marcelo Bielsa during the 2014–15 season, making his breakthrough with the club as he helped the team to a fourth-place finish. On 31 August 2015,Juventus announced the signing of Lemina on a season-long loan for €500,000 with an option to buy for €9.5 million at the end of the 2015–16 season, in which he helped his team achieve a domestic double. His loan was made permanent in April 2016. On 8 August 2017, Lemina joined Southampton on a five-year deal for a club record fee of £15.4 million.

Lemina represented France at under-20 and under-21 level, winning the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup before opting to represent Gabon at senior level in June 2015. He scored on his international debut in a 3–3 friendly draw against Tunisia on 9 October 2015.