Xabi declares Belgian youth talent ready for action

Bayer 04 Leverkusen head-coach Xabi Alonso mentioned that he was considering giving young Belgian phenom Noah Mbama his first Bundesliga minutes in tomorrow’s fixture against Hoffenheim during his Friday presser. 

Since signing on with Germany’s red company team in mid-January, Noah Mbamba has made just one of Bayer head-coach Xabi Alonso’s bench squads. The 18-year-old’s new German club obviously wishes to take it slowly with the developmental prospect, but isn’t averse to using him as a near-term solution in the defensive midfield area.

One week after selecting Mbamba for his first matchday squad, Xabi provided an update on the young prospect during his Friday presser. The Spanish gaffer declared himself pleased with the teenager’s progress and indicated that he might get his first Bundesliga minutes off the bench tomorrow.

“He has been training with us for almost a month. We see his quality”, Xabi noted, “We are happy with him. Though we have another players at his position [Robert Andrich, Exequiel Palacios, and Kerem Demirbay, he [Mbamba] can now further develop his game. Maybe he’ll get his first minutes tomorrow.”

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