Safwan Mbae: Racing Besancon sign Comoros-French centre-back from Bourgoin-Jallieu on free transfer

Racing Besancon have completed the signing of centre-back Safwan Mbae from FC Bourgoin-Jallieu on a free transfer, with the move officially registered to begin on 2026-07-05. The 29-year-old defender, who holds both Comoros and French nationality, joins the Besancon club after one season at Bourgoin-Jallieu, remaining in France and set to compete in the domestic pyramid rather than returning to his countries of nationality.

The deal sees Mbae move without a transfer fee, with the transaction listed as a free transfer and no current market value recorded for the player at the time of the move. Contract details such as duration have not been disclosed; his contract is logged as running until null, leaving the length of the agreement unspecified in the available data. There is therefore no indication within the data set of any immediate prospect of free agency following this switch.

Mbae arrives at Racing Besancon as an experienced central defender, described positionally as a defender centre-back and right-footed. Born in Paris on 20 Apr 1997 and standing at 1.83m, he represents a profile shaped in French and Spanish footballing systems, with a career that has taken him through both youth and senior environments across two countries. His nationalities are listed as Comoros and France, underlining the dual-national background that has accompanied his development.

The move to Racing Besancon continues a sequence of domestic transfers for Mbae. Before joining Bourgoin-Jallieu, he played for SO Chatellerault, signing there from a spell without a club. Prior to that, he featured for Sporting Club Setois and US Saint-Malo, having first appeared in the French lower leagues with Grand Ouest Association Lyonnaise FC. Each of those moves in France followed an earlier period abroad in Spain, where he represented CD Teruel and Villanueva de Gallego CF.

It was during his time in Spain that his last recorded market valuation was registered. While at Villanueva de Gallego CF, his estimated market value reached 50,000 euros on 2019-01-31, before dropping to zero by 2019-04-30. No updated valuation is provided in the current data, and his market value at the time of the transfer to Racing Besancon is explicitly listed as null, reinforcing that there is no current public estimate attached to the deal.

Mbaes pathway was initially forged in the academy structure of AS Monaco. After youth spells at Montrouge FC 92, he joined AS Monacos U17 side, subsequently progressing to the U19 and then U21 teams. That grounding at a major Ligue 1 clubs youth setup preceded his ventures into senior football in Spain and the French lower divisions, giving him a varied background across different tactical and competitive environments.

The transfer data does not include recent match details, appearances, or performance statistics for his spells at Bourgoin-Jallieu or his other recent clubs, and there is no match-by-match breakdown of his contributions in the most recent season. As a result, specific information about his latest performances, opposition, scorelines or season tallies is not available in the current dataset and cannot be reliably stated.

For now, the confirmed free transfer to Racing Besancon on 2026-07-05 places Mbae back into a structured club environment in France, potentially within the N/A level competition indicated for both his former and new teams. Remaining abroad relative to his Comorian nationality, and within the country of his birth and second nationality, the move provides a further stage for a defender whose career has already crossed youth elite systems and multiple regional leagues. How effectively he settles in Besancon, and whether this period leads to renewed visibility or future moves including the possibility of another free transfer once his undisclosed contract runs its course will be central to how this next phase shapes his reputation and long-term prospects.