Jordi Mboula’s Barcelona departure in 2017 sparked outrage. An exciting and electrifying youngster, who shone the brightest at the U19 UEFA Youth League, he was tipped for stardom. AS Monaco offered the spotlight.
After nearly two years in France, however, the Catalans may have been vindicated. Mboula has toiled in obscurity, shuttling Monaco’s youth ranks with just seven appearances.
Born just outside Granollers to a Catalan mother and a Congolese father, Mboula is Catalunya born and bred. He joined the club aged nine and progressed superbly through the ranks without much hype. Following a superb campaign two years ago, a handful of top clubs to tour around him like vultures. Monaco outsmarted the rest with only €3m.
Mboula wasn’t just good, he was the best. Fast, skilful, creative and physically strong, your definition of a modern day winger. He is as quick as they come and has a wonderful touch which leaves defenders trailing in his wake.
His superb attacking artistry was instrumental for the Catalans as they finished in the last four in the youth tourney. After one of his brilliant showing, his manager, Gabri Garcia, admitted: “When you have players of that quality, you can prepare a lot of things. But then, they pop up and there is nothing you can do to stop it.”
As well he possessed the ability to score unbelievable goals too. He fired eight times to finish as the competition’s top scorer, with every single strike a masterpiece. A typical example was a solo effort against Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals.
Mboula showed some sublime skills and plenty of paces as he raced down the right flank, beat two defenders with fancy footwork before slotting in an angled shot that brought fans at the Mini Estadi to their feet.
Barca was defiant, blatantly refusing to match his terms. And knowing another extra year will mean losing him for free, the club promptly resorted to auctioning the player without inserting a return clause.
Barcelona allowed this promising star to walk away without any likelihood of a return to his boyhood club. They had no need or incentive for that perhaps cos they don’t see him making it big anytime soon.
Mboula’s first year in France was utterly disappointing. The 20-year-old spent more time with the reserve team. His professional debut for Monaco in a 0–0 Ligue 1 tie with Amiens SC on April 2018. He managed two other cameo appearances.
This season, however, things took a different twist. Mboula is closer to the first team than ever, featuring nine times across all competitions, including the Champions League. There’s nothing to show, though.
The young forward is yet to open his goal account and you can check our betting site to bet on the player. He rarely flaunts those traits that lured the Municipality club. A shadow of himself, it won’t be surprising if Monaco opts to part way with three more years to go. Barca totally vindicated.
