Zachary Athekame

Zachary Athekame
Personal information
Full name Zachary Christopher Athekame
Date of birth (2004-12-13) 13 December 2004
Place of birth Geneva, Switzerland[1]
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Positions
Team information
Current team
 Lyon
(on loan from AC Milan)
Number 13
Youth career
2012–2013 Athlétique-Régina FC
2013–2016 Olympique de Genève FC
2016–2019 Servette
2019–2022 Meyrin
2022 Neuchâtel Xamax
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022–2024 Neuchâtel Xamax 30 (1)
2024–2025 Young Boys 34 (0)
2024 → Neuchâtel Xamax (loan) 17 (1)
2025– AC Milan 27 (2)
2026– → Lyon (loan) 1 (0)
International career‡
2023– Switzerland U21 16 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:42, 22 August 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:45, 27 March 2026 (UTC)

Zachary Christopher Athekame (born 13 December 2004) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a right-back and right wing-back for Ligue 1 club Lyon, on loan from Serie A club AC Milan. He is a Swiss youth international.

Club career

Early career

Athekame spent his youth career at Swiss clubs Athlétique-Régina FC, Olympique de Genève FC, Servette and Meyrin.[3]

Neuchâtel Xamax

He joined Neuchâtel Xamax in February 2022, then playing in the Swiss Challenge League, subsequently signing his first professional contract with the club on 12 December 2022.[4]

Young Boys

On 30 December 2023, Swiss Super League club Young Boys announced an agreement to sign Athekame until 2028, and he was loaned back to Neuchâtel Xamax for the second half of the 2023–24 season.[5]

AC Milan

On 15 August 2025, Athekame signed a five-year contract with Serie A club AC Milan.[1][6] Later that year, on 24 October, he scored his first goal for the club in the stoppage time of a 2–2 draw with Pisa.[7]

Loan to Lyon

On 14 August 2026, Athekame joined French Ligue 1 side Lyon, on loan for the 2026–27 season.[8][9]

International career

Born in Geneva, Switzerland,[1] Athekame's father is Nigerian and his mother is Swiss from Neuchâtel.[10] He is a Swiss youth international, having debuted for the Switzerland U21s in September 2023.[10][11][12]

He was called-up for the first time with the senior Switzerland national team by head coach Murat Yakin for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Slovenia on 13 October 2025, in which Athekame did not play during a goalless draw.[13][14][15]

Career statistics

As of match played 26 August 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Neuchâtel Xamax 2022–23 Swiss Challenge League 12000—2[b]0140
2023–24[c] Swiss Challenge League 35220——372
Total 47220—20512
Young Boys 2024–25 Swiss Super League 300518[d]0—431
2025–26 Swiss Super League 40———40
Total 3405180—471
AC Milan 2025–26 Serie A 27210—1[e]0292
Lyon (loan) 2026–27 Ligue 1 10001[f]0—20
Career total 10948190301295
  1. ↑ Includes Swiss Cup, Coppa Italia
  2. ↑ Appearances in Swiss Challenge League promotion play-off
  3. ↑ Part of the season spent on loan from Young Boys
  4. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ↑ Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana
  6. ↑ One appearance in UEFA Champions League

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Official Statement: ZACHARY ATHEKAME". AC Milan. 15 August 2025. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  2. ↑ "Zachary Athekame". AC Milan. Archived from the original on 18 August 2025. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  3. ↑ "Xamax: la trajectoire exemplaire de Zachary Athekame". ArcInfo.
  4. ↑ Grafener, Carim (23 December 2022). "littoralfoot.ch - Xamax offre un premier contrat pro à Zachary Athekame". littoralfoot.ch.
  5. ↑ Neuchâtel, www rtn ch, RTN, Radio Télévision (30 December 2023). "Zachary Athekame : de Xamax à YB". www.rtn.ch.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "Milan, ecco Athekame: effettuate le visite mediche e contratto firmato, manca solo l'ufficialità". SportMediaset. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  7. ↑ "AC Milan 2–2 Pisa". ESPN. 24 October 2025.
  8. ↑ "ZACHARY ATHEKAME PRÊTÉ À L'OL JUSQU'EN JUIN 2027" (in French). Olympique Lyonnais. 14 August 2026.
  9. ↑ "Zachary Athekame joins Lyon on season-long loan from AC Milan with no buy option". OneFootball. 14 August 2026.
  10. 1 2 Feller, Bastien (17 November 2023). "Zachary Athekame: "Il y a un poste à aller chercher"". Blick (in French). Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  11. ↑ "Zachary Athekame portera les couleurs d'YB dès prochaine saison". Littoral Foot. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "Zachary Athekame, le Genevois qui se fait un nom à Neuchâtel". Proxi Foot. 11 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "Zachary Athekame ergänzt A-Nationalteam" (in German). Schweizerischer Fussballverband. 11 October 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  14. ↑ "Männer-Nationalteam: Die Schweiz spielt in Slowenien 0:0" (in German). Schweizerischer Fussballverband. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  15. ↑ "Yakin explains what Athekame needs to do with Switzerland senior team: "Need to learn"". Sempre Milan. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
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