Ezechiel Banzuzi (born 16 February 2005) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club RB Leipzig. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the DR Congo national team.
Club career NAC Breda Banzuzi progressed through VVGZ and NAC Breda's youth teams, joining the latter at age eleven. He made his professional debut for the club on 26 October 2021, in a cup match against VVV-Venlo, which NAC won on penalties. Banzuzi entered the match as a substitute in the 75th minute, replacing Pjotr Kestens. At the age of sixteen, he appeared in ten matches for NAC without signing a professional contract, attracting interest from other clubs. On 8 January 2022, prior to a match against Eindhoven, Banzuzi hinted at a possible departure through a Snapchat post, which led to his demotion back to the youth team. However, in February 2022, he was reinstated to the first team.
Following this, Banzuzi saw increased playing time in league matches during the 2021–22 season, making a total of 20 appearances, nine of which were as a starter. NAC Breda qualified for the promotion play-offs, where they were eliminated in the first round by ADO Den Haag. In the subsequent season, Banzuzi again helped NAC reach the play-offs, where they initially advanced past MVV in the first round but were eliminated by Emmen. During the regular season, he made 31 appearances, contributing five goals and four assists to the team's qualification for the play-off rounds.
OH Leuven On 20 June 2023, Banzuzi signed a three-year contract with Belgian Pro League club OH Leuven.
RB Leipzig On 9 April 2025, RB Leipzig officially announced that they had signed a deal with Banzuzi until 30 June 2030, officially joining on 1 July 2025 for a fee of around €16 million.
Banzuzi made his competitive debut for RB Leipzig on 16 August 2025, coming on in the 62nd minute and heading in Castello Lukeba's long pass in the 79th minute to give Leipzig a 3–2 lead in a DFB-Pokal first-round tie away to SV Sandhausen; Xavi Simons added a late fourth as Leipzig won 4–2 after twice falling behind.
International career Born in the Netherlands, Banzuzi is of Congolese descent. In March 2026, to his own surprise, Banzuzi was called up to the DR Congo U23 national football team, but he remained with Netherlands under-21 and played in the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification that same month.https://www.espn.nl/voetbal/artikel/_/id/16489445/banzuzi-verrast-door-uitnodiging-congo-op-dit-moment-focus-ik-me-op-jong-oranje
On 8 September 2026, Banzuzi has officially committed to play for DR Congo as he has obtained his Congolese passport. He also posted an Instagram post of him with a DR Congo Jersey to officially announce his decision to play for the country
Banzuzi was one of the players who were called up with the DR Congo national team by head coach Sébastien Desabre for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches against Equatorial Guinea (24 September 2026), Zimbabwe (28 September) and the 2 friendlies against Uganda (2 and 5 October). He made his international debut in their first friendly against Uganda, which they lost 2–0.
Career statistics Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsNAC Breda2021–22Eerste Divisie20020—12412022–23Eerste Divisie31500—41282Total51520—62597OH Leuven2023–24Belgian Pro League37231——4032024–25Belgian Pro League34221——363Total71452—00766RB Leipzig2025–26Bundesliga24042——2822026–27Bundesliga401110—61Total2805310—343Career total1509125106216916
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsDR Congo202610Total10
References
External links Profile at the RB Leipzig website