Mbemba takes his Chance to impress
FORMER TOON FAVOURITE IS POISED FOR GLORY AT PORTO
CHANCEL Mbemba’s Newcastle United exit in 2018 left scores of Toon fans feeling glum when the popular defender decided to join FC Porto.
Signed by Steve McClaren at the start of the 2015/16 season, the centre-back quickly became a fan favourite at St James’ Park with chants of: “Chancel Mbemba - he is a class defender” ringing around the stadium and at grounds up and down the country.
Mbemba had proved to be a hit with fans and life was going well when he turned up for his early matches wearing a tuxedo and a big smile!
The £8.4million man from Anderlecht was the big positive of a dreadful season as the club slumped to a relegation battle and went down four years ago.
Mbemba vowed to stay on Tyneside after bonding with the fan base and he was thrilled when one of his close aides translated his terrace song to him after he had heard his name chanted for long periods during games.
At the time McClaren said: “Chancel is blooming. Despite him not being able to speak much
English so far he is doing well for us.”
Yet Mbemba and Rafa Benitez never really hit it off and, after limited game-time in 2016/17 and 2017/18, the DR Congo international was sold in a deal worth around £4.1million.
After he was sold Benitez said: “We are talking about a player where we know he has quality if we analyse him technically.
“We had Jamaal Lascelles, Ciaran Clark and Florian Lejeune doing well, so he did not have his space (in the team). “There is an opportunity for him now to go to an impor- tant club and do well.” Mbemba, now 25, tried to be patient during his time at United and said in 2017: “I played 33 games in the Premier League and I gave everything I had but the manager is the man who makes the calls.
“When he calls upon you you are there and it is important for me to have the strong mentality, the strong mental will, to say that when he needs me I am there for the team and ready to play.”
Yet his big chance never arrived once Newcastle were back in the top flight and he moved to FC Porto. Injury woe in his first season resulted in Mbemba making just three appearances as Porto finished second in the Premeira League and the defender got over a knee problem.
Mbemba was the forgotten man in European football but this season he has hit back in remarkable fashion to show Newcastle his knockdown transfer fee could have been a mistake.
It has been described as “a season of affirmation” by Portugal’s big-selling football paper Bola, Mbemba starring in 23 games so far and helping Porto to a genuine title push as they find themselves tied at the top of the table with Benfica.
Many pundits in Portugal believe it could be the year for Porto after the ex-club of Sir Bobby Robson, where a statue of the former Newcastle boss stands proudly in the museum, completed the league double over rivals Benfica.
Mbemba’s current boss and Portugal legend Sergio Conceicao is getting the very best out of the fully fit centre-back and the campaign has resulted in his best figures and statistics.
Yet the big plus is the run of games, something Mbemba never managed after that first season on Tyneside.
Premier League scouts were flocking to Porto to watch Mbemba and his team-mates before the virus pandemic but the sweetener for the ex-Toon star would be a title medal with giants Porto.
I played 33 games in the Premier League and I gave everything I had, but the manager is the man who makes the calls
Chancel Mbemba