From a French town with a population of only 6,000, a Premier League striker worth £65 million emerged

Meva Guger saw some rumors on social media. Everyone was talking about her brother Brian Mbemo moving from Brentford to Manchester United, but he told her nothing.

When she forwarded the messages to her brother, Mbemo replied: "Mort de rire," which is French for "laughing."

Then he asked: "Are you alone?" Medva was a nurse and was at work at the time, but she went out to answer her brother's call.

"Don't say anything," she remembers Mbemo saying at the time, "This is not a rumor. Manchester United is interested, and so am I."

Mbemo spent the summer vacation at his mother's house, which is about two hours' drive south of Paris. When Medva, who is two years older than Mbemo, returned home, the two sneaked into a bedroom. "Why Manchester?" she asked, "their league ranking is not very good!"

Last week, at her home in the French town of Avalon, Medvedeva sat on the sofa recalling this past event and couldn't help laughing. She doesn’t know much about Manchester United, having only seen Brentford games.

Mbemo told her the history of Manchester United. "This is a club that can bounce back strongly," he said. "Their game plan is interesting and I'm all in. I'm a man of my word and now I'm going there."

But Brentford twice rejected Manchester United's offer.

"You won't sign," Medvedeva said to Mbemo.

"I will definitely sign it," Mbemo replied.

"He really wants to go. In his heart, Manchester is him." Medvedeva said.

Mbemo found it difficult to tell his mother, Angelica Guge, how he would react. One night, just before her mother went to bed, Mbemo said: "I have something to tell you."

"What's wrong?" Angelica Guge said, "You scared me..."

"I'm going to Manchester." Mbemo said.

When the transfer, worth £65m plus £6m in add-ons, was officially announced, the 26-year-old expected his family to be with him at United's Carrington training ground.

This trip to Manchester will be smoother than when Bomo moved from French Ligue 1 Troyes to English Championship team Brentford in 2019. In Troyes, Medvedeva was still at school and Mbemo, who had signed his first professional contract with the club the year before, was leaving for another country.

When Mbemo wrote a farewell letter to Troyes fans, Medvedeva said she cried.

"I don't have a brother anymore," Medva said, with tears filling her eyes. "It's hard, but he's happy, this is life. For mom, it's even worse."

Mbemo's agent has booked a flight to London, but the Guge family has never flown before. "We don't know how to sit at all!" Medvedeva said. She didn’t bring her passport, and they didn’t know where to park the car at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, almost missing their flight. "We are lost," Medvedeva said.

But they did, standing by Mbemo's side as usual.

The New York Times reporter visited Mbemo’s hometown of Avalon, which has a population of just over 6,000. It feels like a wilderness, with huge fields stretching for miles across the Burgundy region. The reporter interviewed his family, friends, former teammates, teachers and coaches to learn about his true character.

1

An hour before Manchester United's game against Sunderland kicked off, Medvedeva was packing a baby onesie as a gift for a friend with "Mbemo" written on the back. The doorbell rang, and her father-in-law Jean and brother-in-law Adrian, pastries in hand, sat down with her and her husband, Kevin, to watch the game.

"It's really a different world," she said of the Premier League. "You feel the pressure is different and the expectations are higher. You can't make mistakes and you have to give it your all."

Ruben Amorim's side are always under pressure, especially after losing to Mbemo's former club Brentford.

After just eight minutes, Mason Mount's beautiful strike calmed everyone's nerves. "That was Brian's cross!" said Medvedeva, who watched with her mother at Old Trafford as Manchester United faced Burnley and Mbemo scored the first goal of his Red Devils career. She couldn't believe the cheers from the fans in the stadium.

TV cameras captured the drizzle in Manchester. “Typically British,” the family laughs, but Mbemo loves rainy days. In the 22nd minute, he cut in from the right and shot from long range, but was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper with his hand. "Good shot!" they encouraged him, saying: "Come on, Brian!"

"Manchester United games are always a bit stressful." Medvedeva said, looking relaxed - unlike her mother. She said her mum couldn't watch United's penalty shootout defeat to Grimsby in the Carabao Cup. "She went crazy in front of the TV," Medvedeva said.

After half an hour of the game, Benjamin Sheshko's goal helped Manchester United lead 2:0, and Mevar could finally rest on the sofa. Like other fans, during the game, we talked about Manchester United's 2:1 victory over Chelsea, goalkeeper Ramens' first start, Onana's departure, the possibility of signing Martin, and why Manchester United did not introduce any midfielders.

Mbemo passed a long pass to Sheshko, but the latter's shot was too high. A few minutes later, Mbemo wanted Dalot to pass the ball to him. He shot it himself and then fell to the ground. Everyone thought he was deliberately looking for a foul.

During the intermission, we talked about Mbemo’s love for comics, how he learned piano by watching YouTube videos, how he played chess on his mobile phone before games, and how he carefully trimmed his beard. "Don't touch it! It's sacred!" Medvedeva said. "Oh, what a bad temper he has!" said Pongil.

On May 1 of one year, in the semi-finals of the championship held in Avalon, Mbemo, who was only 12 or 13 years old, missed several excellent opportunities and his team failed to advance to the finals. Mbemo blamed himself for the loss.

The opposing coach came to visit him and told him that he was the best player on the court, but Mbemo was so heartbroken that he burst into tears.

3

Before a game, the teenage Mbemo stood in the middle of the crowd in the Avalon locker room and told his teammates that he was joining Les Stacces, also known as Troyes FC.

"I will remember that day for the rest of my life," Pongil said.

"We're like a family, together every weekend, every week," Dworkuks added.

The recruiting team of Troyes took a fancy to Mbemo and invited him for a trial training. The two boys live in Troyes and all they have to do every day is eat, go to class and train. Medvedeva sometimes spends nearly two hours with her mother, driving the 70 miles from Avalon to Troyes to watch Mbemo play on the weekends.

"It's a strange feeling. It turns out that my brother was around every day, and then disappeared overnight," Medva said. "I miss him very much. Even if he goes crazy playing the game console, shouting and stamping his feet, you are still by his side. But now when I go home After that, there was no trace of him at home. My mother missed him very much and she kept crying."

When Mbemo was 17 years old, Benjamin Bro was his coach in Troyes. Bro recalled that Mbemo was not tall, but he was fast, flexible and aggressive.

"He is always focused on the game," Burrow said. "Sometimes the ball is far away and young players can easily lose control, but he can always predict it."

Burrow found this young man to be polite, but unlike when he was at Avalon, he became quite shy and did not dare to speak in front of everyone. It will take him a little time to adjust and some encouragement to open up. He didn't fully grasp the new tactics at first, but he picked them up quickly.

What is most striking, however, is Mbemo’s attitude. The boy was still sullen, and Bro could tell it was because he was demanding so much of himself.

"In the beginning, he got angry easily and couldn't manage his emotions properly," Burrow said. "This sometimes caused him to lose his state and he gave up on himself easily."

Dvorkoux recalled that Mbemo often called his mother in tears and said he wanted to go back to Avalon. But those closest to him urged him to persevere. "He didn't have a nervous breakdown," Dvorkoux said. "He had the courage to stay."

When Mbemo returned to Avalon for vacation, Medva noticed changes in her brother's body and mind. Little by little, Bro helped him build his confidence.

"That's why he got to the top," Burrow said. "I'm not surprised at all with everything he did. He wanted to be successful in football, but he gave it his all. He grew from a little boy into a great man, a great professional player."

The turning point in Mbemo's career was the 2018 Gambardela Youth Cup final. He scored twice at the Stade de France - just as Kylian Mbappe achieved with Monaco two years ago.

Everyone told Medvedeva it was an amazing achievement, but she and her mother were used to seeing him score.

"He knew where he was going and what risks he faced," Medva said. "But my mother and I didn't really realize that. We didn't know anything about that world."

"What if we can't get out?" they asked him.

"I'll kick him out," he replied.

That summer, the 18-year-old Mbemo signed his first professional contract with Troyes for a period of three years, and he was directly included in the first team. A year later, he joined Brentford on a five-year contract for £5.8 million, breaking the club's transfer fee record.

In 2020, Mbeumo was selected for the French youth team. "At that time, he was competing with Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Kingsley Coman," Bro said. But two years later, Mbemo's father's homeland Cameroon contacted him, and he met one of his idols, Samuel Eto'o. In 2022, he switched to Cameroon and represented Cameroon in the World Cup in Qatar.

"Through him, each of us lived the dream of a young football player," Grenier said. He later played for Avalon's senior team along with Pongil and Creighton. Now, Grenier, Pongil and Deverkus work with kids in Avalon as coaches and after-school counselors, while Clayton works as a delivery driver for a supermarket. "Mbemo's experience is not common, especially in a small town like Avalon. We are very proud of him and he has not given up."

Whenever Mbemo returns to Avalon, he will go to schools and childhood clubs to answer children's questions and sign autographs for them. He also bought his mother a house as a surprise. Despite his busy schedule, he remained in regular contact with Bockel and Burrow. Mbemo visited Bro last year when he had their first child and invited him to have dinner with the Mbemo family at Brentford on Boxing Day.

"When you see him walking on the street, his temperament will make you think he is very proud," Medva said, "but when you talk to him, you will find that he is a calm person, not proud at all, not self-centered."

"Money has not gone to his head. He has not changed, he has not forgotten his origin, his family and his original intention. He has always remained humble."