During the pre-season, in the early stages of Jose Mourinho’s time as the new boss of Manchester United, in a friendly game against Wigan Athletic in July 2016, 19-year old Axel Tuanzebe made a positive impression straight away on the manager. “With Axel, 10 minutes is enough. The potential is there, you see it immediately,” the Portuguese told the press afterwards.
The teenager, in recent weeks, made his first senior appearance for the Red Devils – once more against Wigan – in Jose’s 800th game as a manager in the FA Cup last Sunday. And just a day ago, Tuanzebe was rewarded with a new and improved contract by United. His new deal ties him to Old Trafford until at least 2020, while the club have an option to extend that deal a further year.
“I have always been a Manchester United supporter so I am naturally delighted to have signed a new contract,” Tuanzebe told ManUtd.com. “To make my debut at Old Trafford in the FA Cup was a very proud moment, both for me and for my family,” he further added.
Tuanzebe was a Rochdale schoolboy who was spotted early by one of United’s scout and has been with the club since he was an eight-year-old. Having come through the ranks at the United academy, the DR Congo national established himself as a key part of the Under-18 squad before being fast-tracked into the U-21 setup as a reward for his impressive abilities.
His authoritative presence, his game awareness and his abilities with the ball at his feet made him a special talent and he was soon moved to the U-23 squad where he has been a revelation. Just at the age of 19, he was handed the captaincy of the U-23 squad this term, by academy coach Nicky Butt and the added responsibility of leading his side has spurred Tuanzebe to take his game to a higher level.
At 6ft 1in, Tuanzebe is a tall strong towering presence in the heart of the defence and is an excellent man-marker owing to his presence and concentration. The 19-year old leads by example in the field and is a vocal presence, always spurring his teammates to do better. For someone so young, Tuanzebe shows great maturity and positional awareness at the back and knows when to follow the play out or when to sit deep and deny his opposition the space. And the burst of acceleration and the pace that he possesses is one of the biggest assets of his game, allowing him to cover ground quickly and thwart his opponents.
A strong header of the ball, an unafraid tackler, Tuanzebe brings in a combative style of defending, but also has the composure to hold on to the ball and carry it out from the back when needed.
His bow for the first-team had been in the pipeline for quite a while now. The defender had looked destined to make his first-team debut under Louis Van Gaal back in 2015 in the Dutchman’s second season in charge. He was an unused substitute for the trip to Crystal Palace in October 2015 and would surely have earned his call-up for the senior team, after the turn of the year, if not for an injury which ruled him out of the majority of the second half of the campaign.
The likes of Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, James Weir, Donald Love and Guillermo Varela all made their first team debuts and enjoyed varying degrees of success, along with Marcus Rashford, who stole the show during the early parts of 2016. But now Tuanzebe looks ready to make the step up to the United first team under Mourinho.
Having been part of the squad that travelled to Hull City for the second leg of United’s EFL Cup semi-final where he was an unused squad member, Tuanzebe came off the bench three days later against Wigan to mark his debut. But now having made his first appearance, Tuanzebe should keep on working the way he has been, keep putting in the hard yards and not relax, if he is to hold onto his place for a sustained period of time.
When asked about his feeling after his debut, the teenager replied, saying, “There’s no better feeling, but I can’t let it go to my head and relax now.”
“I’ve got to keep my head down and keep proving to him why he should have faith in me. I’ve got to keep pushing every day and showing why I should be in the team and why I’m here at the club,” giving an insight into his tremendous attitude.
United have a plethora of options in defence already, with Eric Bailly returning from the AFCON to add to the already available contingent of Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones and Daley Blind. And Mourinho, over the years, has been criticized for not giving youth a chance wherever he has managed. But in Tuanzebe, the Portuguese has someone who has all the ingredients to make the shift from youth squad to the senior team, someone who could turn out to be the next big star to emerge from the United academy.