Newcastle United look set to make Chancel Mbemba their second signing of the week from the Belgian side Anderlecht after the Democratic Republic of Congo defender confirmed he has agreed to move to St James’ Park.
As reported at the weekend, the versatile 20-year-old will join Aleksandar Mitrovic on Tyneside in the next few days having been left out of the Anderlecht side that beat Lazio 3-1 in a pre-season friendly on Sunday.
“The transfer is not finalised yet. There are still some details to work out but it will go (through) and I’m proud of myself,” said Mbemba.
“I worked very hard for it to arrive and it’s a childhood dream come true. In Congo, everyone dreams of one day playing in the Premier League. In my country, it is the place to be.”
The only stumbling block could be that DR Congo are not ranked inside the top 50 by Fifa, meaning the club may have to appeal for him to qualify for a work permit under new rules introduced by the Football Association in May. However, it seems likely that Mbemba will be given special dispensation to make the £7m move given that the Champions League qualifiers Borussia Mönchengladbach and Atlético Madrid were both interested in signing him.
“I went to visit Mönchengladbach’s facilities. I had a good interview with their management, and the coach tried to sell it to me but the club could not pay what Anderlecht requested,” he said.
“Atlético have also made an offer, but it was refused for the same reasons.”
Mbemba added: “This competition is a showcase. I think it’s mostly at home to Arsenal when I tabled my business card to English clubs.
“When I arrived in 2011 I had nothing. I did not even know if I was going to eat every night. And now here I am. It’s also cool that Mitrovic is in Newcastle too. But I also look forward to seeing Cheikhou Kouyaté when we face West Ham.”
Newcastle showed plenty of signs of the defensive frailty that marred the second half of last season in the 4-3 friendly defeat to the MLS side Portland Timbers on Tuesday night. Two goals from the winger Rolando Aarons – including a brilliant overhead kick – and another from the new signing Georginio Wijnaldum were not enough to stop Steve McClaren’s side sliding to defeat.
Aarons, who missed much of last season through injury but scored in the Capital One Cup victory against Manchester City in October, is expected to sign a new contract this week.
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