Recruited by Peter Verbeke
Before taking charge of the Club, Mbangula played at FC Léopold, in Uccle, and at FC Brussels. It was in particular Peter Verbeke, during his years as a recruiter among the young people of Bruges, who attracted him to the Blauw en Zwart. “From the beginning, he was considered a special talent by many.begins Pascal De Maesschalck, former director of the Bruges training center. I still remember videos from a tournament in Italy… It was something else. You could see it directly: he had something you can’t learn, something natural, something frivolous. He knew how to do everything: score, cross, eliminate his opponent… He felt things and knew how to execute them technically. Sometimes we were like, ‘What do we have here? Did we see that clearly?’ He knew how to surprise us more than the others.”
Which led to Mbangula being upgraded among the youngsters. A year, even two sometimes. “During his second year with me, he was 12 years old and sometimes played with 14 year old boysremembers Nicolas Verwilst, former youth coach of the Club. He wasn’t small either. He knew how to score, how to dribble, but… it was at times. Let’s say he chose his matches. Against Cercle, Mouscron or Kortrijk, he let the goalkeeper or defender come back on him to dribble them again (smile). When we faced Anderlecht or Standard, he scored five or six goals, announcing it to me in advance. He was also super motivated for international tournaments. I also remember that his father was very involved, he filmed a lot of match sequences. During training, he was a bit of a playful boy, a joker. I think that might have played tricks on him sometimes. But his talent was truly undeniable, which is why I’m not surprised by what he’s doing at Juve.”
gullWe never would have imagined him running 50 meters to defend.
Nonchalant and a “peace and love” side
In the youth team too, Mbangula regularly skips one or the other age group. “With Pierre Dwomoh, they were the two U16 players that I took over for the U17ssays Thierry Siquet, former youth coach at the federation. I never had a problem with Samuel, but it’s true that he had a bit of a nonchalant side, a bit of ‘peace and love’. Sometimes he was somewhere else for half an hour and it was like you were playing without him. Besides that, he was able to take flight and do things where you say, ‘Wow, there aren’t many people who can do that.’ He was only 15 at the time.”
An age at which Mbangula already knew what he wanted. Recently, he revealed that he did not feel enough trust from Club Brugge during his time there. Which precipitated his departure, in 2019, for Anderlecht. “What if he was stubborn? Let’s say he had a clear idea of what he wantedadmits De Maesschalck, current technical director of Strasbourg. I find it surprising that he said he didn’t feel enough trust from us. And I don’t agree with that. I was involved in the discussions and we really tried to keep it. He is stubborn and I think that indeed, he did not always get what he wanted. But I also think that this is precisely what formed him. In my opinion, it may have gone less well off the pitch, but on the pitch it has always gone well.”
Why Club Bruges and Anderlecht let Samuel Mbangula, the new Belgian “phenomenon”, slip away
His schooling was a problem
For any kid, the transition from primary to secondary is still a big change. In Mbangula’s case, this transition was further complicated by language. Educated in French until the age of 12, the Brussels resident had to integrate the Dutch-speaking system. “I think that’s also one of the reasons why he ended up leaving Club Brugge, yesexplains De Maesschalck. School was something that interested him less anyway. He always had his head in football. Classes like history almost become more like Dutch lessons, because you have to understand the language. It was difficult and it caused a bit of inconvenience, worry… His family was concerned about it. He was still traveling back and forth at the beginning, from Brussels no less. The problems came when he joined the boarding school, it was not easy for him. I think he had more difficulty than others to integrate, to understand what Club Brugge represented. But he was a good player. A very good player.”
-To be closer to his family, Mbangula subsequently signed for Anderlecht, before taking charge of Juventus a year later, while clubs like Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Frankfurt were also concrete. “But Samuel thought that going to Italy would be better for his development and Cristiano Ronaldo, his idol, was playing there.confided his agent Grace Diamouangana this summer.
gullWe really tried to keep it.
Everything has changed in Turin
The choice proved to be more than profitable, given the incredible success of Mbangula in Italy. “The requirements there are differentexplains Siquet. Gradually, we saw a player who changed, who worked a lot more on the pitch, who repositioned more quickly when he lost the ball, etc. In Italy, there are maybe four or five Mbangula, so if you’re not a crazy worker, it doesn’t work. Wingers are a trademark of training in Belgium: what country can say that it has a Mika Godts, a Jérémy Doku, a Julien Duranville, a Malick Fofana and a Samuel Mbangula? There are some who in the short, or even medium term, can become ball stars. In Samuel’s case, his mindset changed. He is capable of making runs of 40-50 meters to defend. A few years ago, we would never have imagined this from him. This is what makes the difference between a good player and a player from a top club. Juve is not the local club…”
His transformation deserves praise, although no one is surprised by the level Mbangula is reaching today at Juventus. “He said it himself: he’s more serious than beforeConfie Verwilst. He’s a great talent. A bit of a joker but really a good guy deep down, someone you could have fun with. He was nonchalant, less disciplined than others, but something clicked. It wasn’t a bad idea to go abroad. Especially since he had to make his plan, go somewhere where he didn’t know the language or the people either… Hats off.”
gullSometimes we were like, ‘What do we have here? Did we see that clearly?’
