Us tight folk can't see it! 😀
Not sure how I saw it then as so am I
…… I’ll copy it
“You get that phone call at a weak point. I don’t know why I said yes, but I knew I had to take the shot.”
It was May 2019 and Joel Mumbongo’s career was at a crossroads.
He had just returned to Sweden without a club and was only five months removed from surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament.
He was informed of interest from Burnley. Not many players would have taken that gamble, but he did not hesitate to accept a trial “on one and a half legs”.
“I’d only started walking two months before and running the month after,” says Mumbongo. “I had also lost 12kg, so physically my strength had suffered.”
The 23-year-old joined up with Burnley’s under-23 set up for pre-season. It was clear the injury was still affecting him, but instead of saying no Burnley set up a rehabilitation programme to help return him to full fitness.
“Burnley were and have been amazing,” says Mumbongo. “I don’t usually talk about stuff like this, but it means the world. Not a lot of clubs would have done what they did. I’m very thankful.”
As his fitness improved so did his performances, leading to a permanent contract in October, followed by an extension in January 2020.
Fast forward to the end of January 2021 and Mumbongo was too busy taking his tracksuit off as quickly as he could to think about what he was about to accomplish.
Burnley were 2-0 down at Stamford Bridge and Sean Dyche was ready to make a change. Mumbongo was about to make his Premier League debut.
“I didn’t have time to get nervous. I didn’t realise truly what I’d done until I went on my phone. All the text messages and social media, then you just think, ‘Wow’, and it starts sinking in,” Mumbongo says.
Injuries to first-team strikers had given him an opportunity to be a part of the first-team match-day squad. He made an impact on his debut off the bench against Milton Keynes Dons in a third-round FA Cup tie earlier that month. In total, he made seven first-team appearances throughout the season.
Premier League appearances against Chelsea and Manchester City have been the peak of his journey so far, but it has only made him hungrier for more.
“Those matches meant a lot,” he says. “When you get the results for hard work it makes you want more. I am never going to be satisfied. You can’t get better by thinking about yesterday.”
During his youth, Mumbongo would divide his time between football and sprint training four times each every week, one after the other.
Originally he decided to try sprinting out for a few weeks because he enjoyed running. Over a three-year period between 14 and 17, he was regularly the quickest in the country in his age group.
“You can do both when you are 14 because your body can take it, but it is hard to get really good at something if your mind is going two separate ways. Where your focus goes, energy flows,” he admits.
Doing both was unsustainable. He had to pick one. It was always going to be football, but school came first.
There is a wry smile on Mumbongo’s face as we discuss his opinion on his parents deciding he had to stay in Sweden and finish school before moving abroad to follow his football dreams. There must have been some frustration…
“Maybe – you enjoy playing football more than homework,” he laughs.
“Education has always been important for my parents and rightly so — you can’t take it for granted. When you are that young you do what you are being told. I trusted my parents.”
The decision was made after Mumbongo attracted Premier League interest. He was spotted as a 15-year-old playing in a tournament in Sweden by Manchester City and Everton.
“We lost the semi-final and I was walking off the pitch crying. This man tapped me on the shoulder and said well done and he had some good news,” says Mumbongo.
“I just walked away because I was thinking, ‘Leave me alone’. Turns out he was a scout with Manchester City, so he contacted my parents.”
England was a completely different world to Sweden from training to the lifestyle. He travelled with Manchester City to Austria and competed in a tournament alongside Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz. The Everton trial followed a couple of weeks later.
“I learned a lot at City in two weeks, but I felt like I was there for a year,” he says. “Playing in the tournament against a lot of different teams from other countries was a great experience.”
Growing up, Mumbongo played in central midfield before being converted to a winger, with a stint at right-back, before eventually moving to centre-forward as he developed physically.
After playing youth football, his career began to take off when he joined Orgryte after his parents has enquired about him going on trial.
Plenty of travelling was involved via multiple 90-minute bus trips to and from training. He would finish school, run home, eat two boiled eggs and porridge before catching the bus where he would do his homework. His dedication never wavered
“There were long days but when you love the hustle, you are happy to put the work in,” says Mumbongo.
From there he joined Hacken FC as a 16-year-old before joining third division Utsiktens BK.
Trials with Stoke and Southampton (twice) did not work out, but Mumbongo continued to turn heads in Sweden, moving through the age groups at international level.
In the summer of 2018, he thought his move to England was finally going to happen. Everything appeared to be agreed with Birmingham City, until the deal fell through due to the club’s transfer embargo.
Joel Mumbongo (left) battles against Antonio Rudiger on his Premier League debut (Photo: Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
“Mentally, everything had been sorted. I had moved my stuff over,” says Mumbongo. “In my mind I was already there and a Birmingham player.”
“As a young player from Sweden you want to make that move to a top-five league. To have that taken away was tough.”
He had to pack up his belongings and fly back home. Having said his goodbyes to his team-mates, he was back training with them.
“I knew if I kept working in then I would get a move. If Birmingham felt I was good enough then hopefully someone else would,” says Mumbongo.
It was an emotional rollercoaster. As he got back into his normal routine, interest from Hellas Verona became serious. He was never going to turn the offer down.
Mumbongo expected to travel over for a medical and sign his contract before returning to Sweden to say his final goodbyes. Instead, he was transported straight to his new house. It took time to adjust to the new language and being away from his family for the first time.
Eventually, Italy began to feel like home. Things were going well on the pitch, playing consistently for the under-23 side and training with the first team. Then, just before the Christmas break, he heard his right knee pop. It was his anterior cruciate ligament.
It was a stressful period. Mumbongo had signed a one-year deal with the option of a 12-month extension. He did the maths and knew he would be out for the rest of the season.
“To get that extension I needed to play, so I knew it was not good. I didn’t cry over it, but it was a tough time with plenty of dark days,” says Mumbongo.
“I knew that when I got back fit I was good enough to find a new club. But I could only do that if I got back to 100 per cent.”
It was another setback, but one that brought him to Burnley – via LinkedIn – when former academy manager Jon Pepper spotted him on the site, which The Athletic revealed.
“It is weird and funny because I found out at the same time everybody else did,” laughs Mumbongo. “I never cared to ask how they had found me, I just wanted to know what time the flight was.
“Everyone’s reaction was, ‘What, LinkedIn?’ and so was mine. You can call it luck or fate, but somehow whichever way I got here, it doesn’t matter.”
It was a normal Friday training session on a frosty December day when Mumbongo felt a pain in his right knee.
A small tear on his ligament was discovered and it has turned his 2021-22 season upside down.
The striker had just battled to win a place back in the Accrington Stanley side after a period out of the team. Now he faced a prolonged spell on the sidelines, one which is still ongoing.
He returned to Barnfield to undergo his rehabilitation. He is back running on the grass, completing gym work and taking part in some drills with Burnley Under-23s.
“It was frustrating when it happened, but I’m feeling good and strong so I am in a good place right now. The goal is to be back involved before the end of the season,” he says. The hope is his recovery will be completed in two or three weeks.
A loan move was planned heading into the season and Accrington registered their interest quickly. He spoke to manager John Coleman, who he enjoyed working with, and was confident it was the right next step.
Mumbongo celebrates as he scores for Accrington Stanley (Photo: Stephen White – CameraSport via Getty Images)
He began the season in the team, scoring his first goal in a 1-0 win against Shrewsbury in early September, but he quickly lost his place after that. He did not play again until November.
“If you don’t play you get frustrated, but you can’t let it get to you,” he says. “I was just focusing on the next session and the next game. It is about staying professional and ready and that was the instruction.”
The tempo, direct style and physicality were the biggest adaptations Mumbongo needed to make when adjusting to the Football League.
“I went up for a header and the defender just ran into me without looking at the ball,” he says. “You get used to it. You know you are walking out of every game sore so you have to make your opponents feel sorer.”
Mumbongo’s combination of speed and strength allowed him to make the adjustments quickly. What Burnley were keen for him to improve was his game understanding.
He constantly studies football, watching clips of himself in games and training as well as watching as many different strikers as he can to pick different things up to improve his all-round game.
Having trained with Burnley’s first team consistently last season, he was benefiting from top-level training and learning from experienced players every day. Jay Rodriguez and Ben Mee were two players who offered advice and answered his questions. He felt himself improving and picking up small details.
It has been described as “very, very likely” Mumbongo remains at Burnley for the rest of the season. There is disappointment that his loan may have ended abruptly, but it has helped him continue in the right direction.
“I have learned a lot as a footballer and a person on and off the pitch. There are always would have and should have situations,” Mumbongo says. “It has exactly what I needed and wanted.”
Mumbongo’s future is less than certain. He is out of contract in the summer. At 23, it suggests it is time to move on, but it is not something he has thought about yet.
“I have enjoyed being at Burnley,” he concludes. “It is a club that took me in when I was at the bottom, so the club will always mean a lot to me.
“I will let my agent deal with the off-field stuff. It doesn’t matter what happens at the end of the season if I am not fit, that’s what my goal is. All I can do is do my talking on the pitch, train hard, do extra work in the gym and look after my lifestyle.”
(Top photo: Tim Goode/PA Images via Getty Images)
Andy Jones
Andrew Jones is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering Burnley FC. Having graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class Honours Degree in Sports Journalism, Andrew has had written work published
good goal that
…… I’ll copy it
