Jeffrey Monakana (born 5 November 1993) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Monakana progressed through the youth system at Arsenal,[2][3] then finally in 2008, At the age of 14, Monakana was handed a four-year contract.
Monakana[4] signed a one-year deal with Preston North End on 31 May 2012, effective from 1 July 2012.[5] The 18-year-old winger became the ninth summer signing for Preston manager Graham Westley. Monakana performed well in pre-season, notably his contributions against Athens[6][7] and Wimbledon.[8][9]
He made his full debut in a home League Cup tie against Huddersfield Town, on 13 August 2012,[10] Playing for 70 minutes, and had an excellent game, setting Jack King up for the first goal in a 2–0 win. His first senior goal came in a second round League Cup tie against Crystal Palace.[11] He went on to score six goals and 10 assist in his first year at professional football. In the game against Brentford opposing manager Uwe Rosler stating that Monakana was a handful with his pace and skill.
On 12 September 2013, Monakana joined fellow League One side Colchester United on a month's loan.[12] He scored on his debut for the club in a 2–2 draw with Bradford City on 14 September.[13] On 15 October 2013, after starting every match since joining Monakana's loan was extended at the club until the beginning of December 2013.[14]
On 14 January 2014, Monakana transferred to Football League Championship club Brighton & Hove Albion for an undisclosed fee, signing an 18-month contract with the club's development squad.[15] On 27 March 2014, Monakana joined League One side Crawley Town on a month's loan.[16] In July 2014, Monakana joined Aberdeen on loan for six months.[17] In February 2015, Monakana joined Mansfield Town on loan for a month.[18] In March 2015, Monakana was loaned out again, joining Carlisle United this time on loan until the end of the season.[19]
On 4 August 2015, Monakana joined League Two side Bristol Rovers on a one-month loan.[20]
On 16 January 2016, Monakana signed a contract for six-months with Romanian club FC Voluntari.[21]
On 22 December 2016, it was announced that Monakana had signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with National League club Sutton United.[22] He made his first appearance for Sutton as a substitute on 1 January 2017 in a 2–0 home victory over Bromley, before making his full debut on 10 January in a 1–0 away defeat against Braintree Town.[23][24]
In August 2017 he signed a loan deal with Welling United. The deal was made permanent on 17 November 2017.[25] In March 2018, he signed for Wealdstone.[26] He moved to Dulwich Hamlet, also of National League South, in June 2019.[27]
On 4 September 2020, Monakana joined Icelandic Úrvalsdeild side Fjölnir until the end of the season.[28]
In February 2021, he returned to Iceland to join 1. deild karla side Magni Grenivík.[29]
In March 2024, following his inability to fully recover from his injury, Monakana announced his retirement from football.[30]
Monakana is of DR Congolese descent.[citation needed]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Preston North End | 2012–13[31] | League One | 38 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4[a] | 0 | 47 | 6 |
| 2013–14[32] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 40 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 49 | 6 | ||
| Colchester United (loan) | 2013–14[32] | League One | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 2013–14[32] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Crawley Town (loan) | 2013–14[32] | League One | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Aberdeen (loan) | 2014–15[33] | Scottish Premiership | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Mansfield Town (loan) | 2014–15[33] | League Two | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Carlisle United (loan) | 2014–15[33] | League Two | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bristol Rovers (loan) | 2015–16[34] | League Two | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Voluntari | 2015–16[35] | Liga I | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Sutton United | 2016–17[36] | National League | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[b] | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2017–18[35] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Margate (loan) | 2016–17[35] | National League South | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Welling United (loan) | 2017–18[35] | National League South | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | |
| Welling United | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Wealdstone | 2017–18 | National League South | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2018–19 | National League South | 28 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 2[c] | 1 | 32 | 3 | ||
| Total | 36 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 40 | 4 | ||
| Dulwich Hamlet | 2019–20 | National League South | 27 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[b] | 0 | 30 | 4 | |
| Fjölnir | 2020 | Úrvalsdeild | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Career total | 168 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 187 | 16 | ||
