Ken Sema

Ken Nlata Sema (born 30 September 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays for Championship club Watford as a midfielder.

Ken Sema

Personal information
Full name	Ken Nlata Sema[1]
Date of birth	30 September 1993
Place of birth	Norrköping, Sweden
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Watford
Number	12
Youth career
0000–2013	IFK Norrköping
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013	IFK Norrköping	0	(0)
2013	→ IF Sylvia (loan)	22	(4)
2014–2015	Ljungskile SK	60	(11)
2016–2018	Östersunds FK	58	(8)
2018–	Watford	40	(1)
2019–2020	→ Udinese (loan)	32	(2)
National team^‡
2016	Sweden Olympic	4	(1)
2017–	Sweden	9	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:38, 6 February 2021 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 October 2020

Club career

Early career

Sema got promoted to the IFK Norrköping first team as a 19-year old in 2013. However, he spent the entire season on loan to IF Sylvia[2] and did not get his contract renewed after it expired at the end of the season.[3] In 2014, he signed for second-tier team Ljungskile SK.[4]

Östersunds FK

In January 2016, Sema signed for Östersunds FK in the Allsvenskan,[5] where he would have his major breakthrough. Sema won the 2016–17 Svenska Cupen with Östersund, assisting three of their four goals in the final,[6] and later played a major role in their 2017–18 UEFA Europa League campaign. On 22 February 2018, Sema scored a goal in a 2–1 win against Arsenal in the round of 32. Despite this, Östersund were eliminated from the Europa League after losing 2–4 on aggregate.[7]

Watford

On 4 July 2018, Östersunds FK chairman Daniel Kindberg revealed that Sema was close to signing for Premier League club Watford on a five-year contract.[8] The next day, Watford confirmed the signing.[9]

Loan to Udinese

On 22 August 2019, Udinese Calcio signed Sema on a season-long loan from Watford.[10] He made his Serie A debut for Udinese on 25 August 2019 in a 1–0 win against A.C. Milan.[11]

International career

In 2016, Sema was a part of the Sweden Olympic team that played in Brazil, and scored his first U23 goal in a match against South Korea Olympic. In January 2017, he debuted for the Sweden senior team in a friendly 6–0 win over Slovakia.[12]

Sema was an unused substitute in the two-legged playoff against Italy in November 2017, which Sweden won, and therefore qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Despite featuring in commercials with the rest of the Sweden squad before the World Cup, Sema was eventually left out of the World Cup squad.[13][14]

Sema made his competitive international debut in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying game against the Faroe Islands national football team which Sweden won 3–0.[15]

Personal life

Sema was born in Sweden to Congolese parents, and his brother Maic Sema is also a footballer.[16]

Career statistics

As of match played 6 February 2021

Club	Season	Division	League		National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
IFK Norrköping	2013	Allsvenskan	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
IF Sylvia (loan)	2013	Division 1 Södra	22	4	0	0	—		—		22	4
Ljungskile SK	2014	Superettan	30	7	6	0	—		—		36	7
	2015	Superettan	30	4	4	3	—		—		34	7
	Total		60	11	10	3	—		0	0	70	14
Östersunds FK	2016	Allsvenskan	23	4	3	0	—		0	0	26	4
	2017	Allsvenskan	24	4	5	0	—		13[lower-alpha 1]	1	42	5
	2018	Allsvenskan	11	0	0	0	—		0	0	11	0
	Total		58	8	8	0	—		13	1	79	9
Watford	2018–19	Premier League	17	1	2	0	2	0	—		21	1
	2019–20	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2020–21	EFL Championship	23	0	1	0	1	1	—		25	1
	Total		40	1	3	0	3	1	—		46	2
Udinese (loan)	2019–20	Serie A	32	2	1	0	—		0	0	33	2
Career totals			212	26	22	3	3	1	13	1	250	31

1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of 5 September 2020

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sweden	2017	1	0
	2018	5	0
	2019	1	0
	2020	1	0
Total		8	0

Honours

Östersund[17][18]

• Svenska Cupen: 2016–17

References

1. "Comunicato Ufficiale N. 216" [Official Press Release No. 216] (PDF). Lega Serie A. 10 March 2020. p. 3. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
2. Stråhle, Ulf (3 April 2013). "Nio IFK-spelare i Sylvias trupp".
3. "Sema om nobben: "Klart jag var sur"".
4. "Sema och Björlund klara". Archived from the original on 12 May 2014.
5. "Ken Sema bekräftar övergången till ÖFK: "Jag är klar"".
6. "Östersund vann Svenska Cupen".
7. "Arsenal 1-2 Oestersunds FK - UEFA Europa League 2017/2018 Live". WhoScored.com.
8. Gray, Harry (4 July 2018). "Ostersund confirm Sema's Watford switch". Watford Observer.
9. "Official: Sema Signs On". Watford F.C. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
10. "Watford winger Sema completes Udinese loan switch". Evening Standard. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
11. "Vinst mot Milan för Sema i Serie A-debuten". DN.SE (in Swedish). 25 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
12. "Sweden 6 - 0 Slovakia - Football". The Guardian.
13. "Sveriges trupp till fotbolls-VM 2018 – här är alla som får åka till Ryssland".
14. "Märkliga Ica-bilderna: "Har blivit reaktioner"".
15. https://www.corren.se/sport/sema-om-em-jakten-maste-jobba-hart-for-det-om6388608.aspx
16. Sjöö, Patrick (5 February 2016). "ÖFK:s nyförvärv Ken Sema i stor intervju – hyllar föräldrarna: "De flyttade till Sverige för att ge sina barn ett bra liv"".
17. Ken Sema at SvFF (in Swedish)
18. Ken Sema at Soccerway