Name to Remember: Tresor Mputu

By: chris | October 12th, 2008

His name has been floating about for some time as the latest unpolished diamond the emerge from the heart of Africa, but without a concrete deal on the continent, he’s been biding his time back in the DR Congo, his homeland. Now, one year after a trial with Arsenal, interest is finally heating up across Europe and Trensor has made clear it’s England or bust.

Right now names are being hushed, but according to Sky upstarts Hull are one of his many admirers. Arsenal? Not quite yet, despite a goal rate that would have even a prime Thierry Henry blushing (according to Wiki, at least):

TP Mazembe: 34 goals, 30 games.
DR Congo: 5 goals, 4 games.

(Don’t really have to go into details how the quality of competition might magically inflate these like a pair of WAG breasts, but still. Over 1 in 1 is damn good.)

Logic says he hasn’t been snapped up because he’s still a “raw” commodity and, at 22, one who will take years mold and shape into a European footballer. If you take three of the best strikers to come from Africa in recent times - Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Adebayor - all were in European youth systems by the time they were 16 years old. At 22 he may not be an old dog, but habits become harder to break the long they’re used. Hence the gap between Trensor’s desires and clubs that are willing to take on a project.

Adding to his legend is that Claude Le Roy, former coach of Cameroon, has said he’s better than Samuel Eto’o. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we find out.

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Category: Name to Remember, World Football

Tags: Africa, Arsenal, Claude Le Roy, Didier Drogba, Emmanuel Adebayor, Hull City, Name to Remember, Samuel Etoo, TP Mazembe, Trensor Mputu, World Football

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• Ronald |  October 12th, 2008 at 2:44 pm

  
  
  

  should go to Ligue 1, where we are more then happy to attain his services for any team in the league. Plus he would have a platform in which to showcase his talents.

  Posted from United States

  

• Marco Pantanella |  October 13th, 2008 at 6:05 pm

  
  
  

  What do you know Chris? He’s the World’s Top Goalscorer of 2007 according the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).
  http://www.mcalcio.com/worlds-top-goalscorer-of-2007-by-the-international-federation-of-football-history-and-statistics-iffhs/

  Phew that was long to type.

  Trésor Mputu, a 22-year old playing for Congolese club TP Mazembe Lubumbashi (sounds Japanese doesn’t it?), achieves his total of 20 goals by grabbing, among others, the topscorer title of the African Champions League and the African CAF Cup! This, according to IFFHS’s data, elects him World’s Top Goal Scorer of 2007.

  In case you’re wondering “Ok, but how good is this guy really?”, Mputu is already in the crosshairs of many European clubs, including Arsenal and Sevilla. He gets the personal thumbs up of Claude Le Roy, ex-manager of Cameroon and Congo, and who is now coaching the Black Stars of Ghana (in other words, someone who’s been around African soccer for quite a while). As a reminder, Le Roy was the one that launched Samuel Eto’o during the 1998 World Cup in France, when the Cameroonian was still only 17 years old.

  Posted from United States

  

• Wayne |  October 23rd, 2008 at 4:33 am

  
  
  

  Although, it’s a poor league in my opinion, Ligue 1 seems like the obvious choice. African players seem to prosper and develop well in France. I wouldn’t worry about him being 22. Didier Drogba didn’t play top-flight European football until he was 24. So there’s still time…

  Posted from United States

  

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