page_title: Kevin Mbabu
section_title: Newcastle United
hierarchical_section_title: Kevin Mbabu / Club career / Newcastle United
caption_attribution_description: English: Newcastle United vs Sheffield Wednesday (0-1), Capital One Cup Third Round, St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, September 2015
context_page_description: Melingo Kevin Mbabu is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defender for VfL Wolfsburg and the Switzerland national team.
context_section_description: After a successful trial, Mbabu signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Newcastle United, moving for an undisclosed fee on 31 January 2013. Upon joining the club, he was immediately assigned to the development squad.
  In the second half of the 2012–13 season, Mbabu made his home debut for the development squad on 1 April 2013, in a 2–1 win over Stoke City Development Squad. For the rest of the second half of the 2012–13 season, he quickly impressed for the side and made seven appearances for the development side. The 2013–14 season saw Mbabu appeared in the development squad despite suffering from injuries as the season progressed.
  However, in the 2014–15 season, Mbabu was plagued by injuries and affected the first half of the season. On 2 February 2015, Mbabu signed for Scottish Championship club Rangers on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season but he did not play in any games or even make it onto the bench once.
  At the start of the 2015–16 season, Mbabu recovered from injury and continued to feature in the development squad. With lack of first team opportunities at the club, he was expected to be loaned out. But he called up to the first team by Manager Steve McClaren following an injuries of defenders and made his Newcastle United debut against Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup, coming on as a substitute for Daryl Janmaat on 23 September 2015. Three days later, on 26 September 2015, Mbabu made his full Newcastle debut against Chelsea starting at left-back and the game finished 2–2. His performance against Chelsea was praised by pundits. He then made another start in the league on 3 October 2015, in a 6–1 loss against Manchester City. However, he suffered a hamstring injury shortly after that kept him out throughout October. It wasn't until on 7 November 2015 when he returned as a late substitute, in a 1–0 win against Bournemouth. Two months later, on 9 January 2016, Mbabu returned to the first team in the third round of FA Cup against Watford, where he started and played 52 minutes before being substituted, in a 1–0 loss. Following this, he missed the rest of the season after suffering injuries on two occasions. However, Mbabu went on to make 5 appearances in all competitions, as Newcastle United were relegated from the Premier League after six seasons there. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Mbabu signed a two–year contract with the club. Two years after his departure, Mbabu reflected on his time at Newcastle United.
caption: Mbabu on making his Newcastle United debut against Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup on 23 September 2015.
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