Emmanuel Mbende

Moise Emmanuel Mbende (born 3 March 1996) is a footballer who plays as a centre back for Italian Serie C club Viterbese.

He began his football career in the youth system of Borussia Dortmund before spending the 2015–16 season with English Championship (second-tier) club Birmingham City, but played no first-team football for either. He then returned to Germany, where he spent two years with 3. Liga club Chemnitz before signing for SC Cambuur of the Dutch Eerste Divisie. A year later, he moved on to Catania and at the end of the season joined Viterbese. In international football, Mbende has represented his native Cameroon at under-20 level.

Club Career

Mbende was born in Douala,Cameroon, and came to Germany in 2006. The family settled in Bochum, where he began his football career with SC Weitmar 45. He was spotted by Borussia Dortmund and recruited into their youth system at the under-13 level. He went on to play for two seasons in the UEFA Youth League, but left the club at the end of the 2014–15 season.

After trials in the Netherlands with Eredivisie club PEC Zwolle and MVV Maastricht of the Eerste Divisie, and in England with Football League Championship clubs Derby County, and Birmingham City, Mbende signed for the latter club in September 2015 until the end of the season. He was a regular member of Birmingham's under-21 team playing in the Professional Development League, and was a member of the Birmingham reserve team that lost the 2016 Birmingham Senior Cup final to National League North champions Solihull Moors, but did not break through to the first team.

He was offered a one-year contract, with an option for another year, in April 2016, and manager Gary Rowett expected him either to challenge the existing first-team centre-backs or to go out on loan to a lower-division club. However, he turned down the contract offer, preferring to return to Germany to study and to play for 3. Liga club Chemnitzer FC, with whom he signed a two-year deal; Birmingham included a "significan