# Afimico Pululu

Afimico Pululu (born 23 March 1999) is an Angolan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok.

## Club career
### Youth career

Pululu started his youth career with local club A.S. Coteaux Mulhouse. In the summer of 2013, he moved to Basel's youth academy and advanced through all stages, until in 2015 he reached their under-21 team, playing in the third tier of Swiss football.

### Basel

In May 2017, Pululu signed a four-year contract and advanced to Basel's first team under head coach Urs Fischer. After playing in three test games, Pululu played his domestic league debut for the club in a home game on 20 August 2017 as Basel played a 1–1 draw with Lugano at the St. Jakob-Park.

### Loan to Xamax

On 29 January 2019, Basel announced that Pululu was transferred to Xamax on loan until the end of the season. He made his first appearance for Xamax against Young Boys on 2 February. He scored two goals for Xamax in the match against Sion on 9 March.

### Return to Basel

He returned to Basel for their 2019–20 season under head coach Marcel Koller and signed an extended contract until summer 2022. In the team's first test match that season, Pululu was substituted in at half-time and scored a hat-trick to help the team win 4–2 against SC Kriens after being two goals down at the break. He scored his first domestic league goal for his club on 8 December in the home game as Basel won 1–0 against Sion. Across the season, Pululu made 29 appearances, however always as substitute. To gain match practice, he played for the under-21 team. Therefore, the club looked for a new solution and the player left Basel on a free transfer.
Between 2017 and 2022, Pululu played a total of 115 games for Basel's first team, scoring a total of 13 goals. 59 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, eight in the Swiss Cup, six in the UEFA competitions (Champions, Europa and Conference League) and 32 were friendly games. He scored four goals in the domestic league, one in the cup and the other eight were scored during the test games.

### Greuther Fürth

On 7 January 2022, Basel announced that Pululu would move to Bundesliga side Greuther Fürth. Greuther Fürth confirmed the transfer on the same day and stated that the player had signed on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

### Jagiellonia

On 22 June 2023, Pululu joined Polish Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok, signing a two-year deal with an extension option. He was given squad number 10. He made his debut on 22 July 2023 in a 3–0 away loss to Raków Częstochowa. He scored his first goal for Jagiellonia in a 4–1 home win over Puszcza Niepołomice on 29 July 2023. During that match, he came off the bench in the 79th minute, scoring a goal two minutes later. During the 2023–24 season, Pululu scored 14 goals, 12 in the league and two in the Polish Cup. On 7 November 2024, Pululu scored the opening goal in a 3–0 victory over Molde in the UEFA Conference League.

## International career

Born in Angola to parents from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and raised in France, Pululu is eligible for either country at international level.
In March 2025, after being approached by both DR Congo and Angola team officials, Pululu chose to represent the latter. He received his first call-up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Libya and Cape Verde to be played on 20 and 25 March.

## Career statistics

    As of match played 6 March 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Basel | 2017–18 | Swiss Super League | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 |
| Basel | 2018–19 | Swiss Super League | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 |
| Basel | 2019–20 | Swiss Super League | 21 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 2 |
| Basel | 2020–21 | Swiss Super League | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 3 |
| Basel | 2021–22 | Swiss Super League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 |
| Basel | Total | Total | 59 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 16 | 0 | — | — | 83 | 5 |
| Xamax (loan) | 2018–19 | Swiss Super League | 17 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | 2 |
| Greuther Fürth | 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | 0 |
| Greuther Fürth | 2022–23 | 2. Bundesliga | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 13 | 1 |
| Greuther Fürth | Total | Total | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 21 | 1 |
| Jagiellonia Białystok II | 2023–24 | III liga, group I | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| Jagiellonia Białystok | 2023–24 | Ekstraklasa | 31 | 12 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 34 | 14 |
| Jagiellonia Białystok | 2024–25 | Ekstraklasa | 20 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 18 |
| Jagiellonia Białystok | Total | Total | 51 | 19 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 32 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 149 | 26 | 14 | 4 | 31 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 194 | 40 |
* ↑ Includes Swiss Cup, DFB-Pokal, Polish Cup
* 1 2 Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
* ↑ Four appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League, nine appearances and eight goals in UEFA Conference League

## Honours

Basel
* Swiss Cup: 2018–19
Jagiellonia Białystok
* Ekstraklasa: 2023–24
Individual
* Ekstraklasa Player of the Month: May 2024
* Ekstraklasa Team of the Season: 2023–24