Being a Premier League footballer, or a player within any top league, is an extremely lucrative vocation. At the height of an individual’s career with a big club, players nowadays, as we know, can earn hundreds of thousands a week. It’s almost beyond comprehension what that sort of money can do to someone, and luckily now, there are programmes available for professionals in how to manage their wealth.
While this is all well and good in the current environment, for a generation of footballer, this aid wasn’t as widespread, and although many will take responsibility for their losses – the stories are still quite damning, how a player can go from rags to riches, back to rags again. One such player who fits the bill, is Eric Djemba-Djemba. Read on, as GIVEMESPORT charts the Cameroonian’s career rise and fall after he joined Manchester United the same summer as Cristiano Ronaldo.
Early Career Excitement
Djemba-Djemba caused a stir in Ligue 1
Eric Djemba-Djemba emerged on the English consciousness from relative obscurity back in the early 2000s. Born in Douala, Cameroon, Djemba-Djemba moved to France to play football and ended up beginning his professional career with Nantes in Ligue 1.
Sitting deep in midfield, the young defensive-minded player was part of a formidable duo with Mathieu Berson and stuck out from the pack as Nantes finished in 10th and then 9th in 2001-02 and 2002-03, respectively. In his two seasons in France, he earned himself a reputation as a feisty and uncompromising tackler and his skills seemed to match exactly what Alex Ferguson was looking for at Manchester United.
The club needed to find an eventual successor for Roy Keane, and Djemba-Djemba exhibited the kind of tenacity they could ease into the role. Thus, he went to Old Trafford for £3.5 million in the summer of 2003 and was welcomed in alongside other signings like Louis Saha, Kleberson, Tim Howard and, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo. However, while a number of those would go on to enjoy storied careers, Djemba-Djemba unfortunately endured a more tumultuous time.
Eric Djemba-Djemba’s FC Nantes Statistics | |
|---|---|
Appearances | 55 |
Goals | 1 |
Yellow Cards | 18 |
A Difficult 18 months in Manchester
The midfielder didn’t establish himself at Old Trafford
While Djemba-Djemba had some interesting moments in a United shirt, like his immediate crunching challenge on Sol Campbell on his debut in the FA Community Shield, or his delicate lobbed effort against Leeds – the sheer quality of the Premier League ultimately took its toll on him. He struggled for form, and hardly looked capable of succeeding an aging Roy Keane.
Midway through the 2004-05 season, it was clear that Djemba-Djemba was excess and in January 2005, he was sold to Aston Villa for £1.5 million. Unfortunately though, the move did little to restore the player’s confidence or reputation as he found it difficult to get in over Gavin McCann and Steven Davis in Villa’s midfield.
After being played only once, as a late substitute against Arsenal in the first ever game at the Emirates Stadium, by new Villa manager Martin O’Neill on the first day of the 2006–07 season, Djemba-Djemba was loaned out to Championship club Burnley for the remainder of the season in January.
Eric Djemba-Djemba’s Manchester United Career | |
|---|---|
Appearances | 39 |
Goals | 2 |
Assists | 2 |
Honours | 2 |
Bankruptcy
Djemba-Djemba has remained positive despite the experience
Where a brief stint with United saw FA Cup and Community Shield winners medals added to his AFCON triumph of 2002, Djemba-Djemba’s career trailed off after his Burnley loan. Appearance-wise, he did become a mainstay in the midfield of teams like Qatar SC, Danish outfit OB, and Partizan Belgrade – yet after 2013, he only made 11 league appearances before retirement in 2016.
It was announced too, that four years after his move to Aston Villa, Djemba-Djemba was bankrupt and a far-cry from the expectations heaped upon him during his Manchester arrival. Opening up in a number of interviews since his career in English football ended, a more secure Djemba-Djemba spoke of the various stages of his career. He told the Sun in 2018:
“It was difficult. I was 22, I came from France and I went straight into a team that was one of the biggest in the world. There was a lot of pressure, and Roy Keane was a man. Everybody listened to him.
“At the beginning it was good, I played matches because Keane was injured. But when he came back, it was hard for me. Sometimes I played with him, sometimes with Paul Scholes or with Darren Fletcher.”
While experiencing tough times in his 15-year career, the Cameroonian has admirably kept positive about his time in England. In 2013, he told the Guardian:
“I have no regrets about anything in my career. You realise it is football and God decides everything. I was happy to be playing for Manchester, happy to be winning titles, happy the way they treat me.
“And I have no regrets about going to Aston Villa, it was the choice of God, that’s it. When you are young you can do some mistakes: for me, I never regret my mistakes… it was my dream come true – Manchester United. My hero was Eric Cantona. Everybody called me it until now – when I go back in my country, they call me Cantona.”
Eric Djemba-Djemba’s Career Statistics After Manchester United | |
|---|---|
Appearances | 272 |
Goals | 11 |
Clubs | 11 |
Trophies | 0 |
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt.