Ebbsfleet United welcome defender Bryant Bilongo to the club on loan from Middlesbrough until the end of the season.

The left-sided defender blossomed in non-league with Hanworth Villa after a youth career at AFC Wimbledon, breaking into senior football in 2020/21. He moved on to sign for Kingstonian and played alongside Declan Skura in the Isthmian Premier Division for the first part of the 2021/22 season.

Within weeks of turning out for the K’s, he was being watched by Premier League clubs and trialed with Chelsea in October before signing for Middlesbrough for a fee in January 2022.

He made his debut for the Championship club in the EFL Cup in October 2022 and has been a regular in Boro’s Premier League 2 side (pictured above, right) while also making the bench twice in the last month for the first team. He was also on the bench for both of Middlesbrough’s recent Carabao Cup semi-final legs against Chelsea. The defender additionally has National League experience following a spell on loan with Woking last season.

Bryant will wear the number 27 shirt.