Samuel Mbangula is the surprise guest of the Red Devils for this international break. A great reward for his work at Juventus.
If Samuel Mbangula had not broken into football, he would have wanted to become an actor. But his love for Marvel and his dream of playing Spirderman will wait: in recent months, it is in Turin that the 20-year-old left winger has become a superhero. It is not for nothing that Juventus did not wait for communication from the Belgian Union to announce that their player was going to participate in his first casting with the Red Devils. With a potential first appearance against the Squadra as a wink.
Because it was in Italy that the boy understood that he would make a living from football and not from cinema. On his departure fromAnderlecht in 2020, Mbangula is not considered one of Neerpede’s greatest hopes, making for example less noise than Mario Stroeykens, also from the 2004 generation. Where Super Mario is already shining with the U21s, Samuel Mbangula spends his only year in Mauve with the U18s.
The stranger to reveal himself
He left more memories at Club Brugge, who picked him up at FC Brussels at a very young age. Mbangula began to taste football in the parks and agoras of Brussels, but it was his time at the academy that forged the player he is today. Besides Bruges and Anderlecht, he also rubs shoulders with the best of his generation in the selection: he climbs the ranks one after the other alongside Pierre Dwomoh, Kazeem Olaigbe, Nathan Ngoy, Alexandro Calut, Johan BakayokoAnthony Descotte, Lucas Stassin, Julien Duranville and Noah Sadiki.
Juventus then smells the right move. “Did Anderlecht make me big salary offers? You’d have to ask my agent (smile). No, let’s say that the club didn’t make every effort to prevent me from leaving, and that made me “It was fine like that,” he remembers.
Since he was 16, the Brussels resident has spent his life near Turin. There too, he climbs the ladder little by little. He stands out in particular with 3 goals and 2 assists in 5 Youth League matches during the 2022/2023 season, alongside his good performances with the Primavera.
Last season, he played with the reserve team. But he only started seven times in Serie C, slowed down by a nasty muscle injury which kept him away from the field for more than three months. Seeing him prepare with the first team was therefore a nice surprise this summer.
And what to say when Thiago Motta decides to start him for the first championship match against Como? “Honestly, we didn’t expect him to be in the starting XI. When he told me, after being informed about it in the technical meeting, we were very happy. I think it’s the result of his work in training and the fact that he respects the directives of Thiago Motta on the pitch” explains his agent to Calciomercato.
Mbangula immediately proved his coach right with a goal and an assist to seal the 3-0 victory. He then delivered two more assists in the following match at Hellas Verona. “He deserves it. He worked well in training, he did everything from the first day and he played very well in his debut, so today he can help his teammates” compliments him Thiago Motta.
His playing time is now less important at Juventus. The transfers made at the end of the transfer window and the emergence of Turkish sensation Kenan Yildiz are no strangers to this. But Mbangula continues to assert himself in the group and comes into play from time to time. Even if some rumors indicate a possible departure this winter to allow the club to replenish its coffers, Samuel Mbangula recently extended his contract until 2028.
Belgian football is therefore likely to continue to hear about him in the coming years. And thus discover an assertive personality: “Everyone is different in their own way, but I have my way of being, not everyone is used to it” he explains on the federation website. Will we see him in action this evening against the country that allowed him to launch his professional career?
