Arrived in France in January 2022, Carlos Baleba let his talent speak for itself. One start with the Lille first team, and here is the 19-year-old Cameroonian midfielder who already commands respect among the big boys.
Paulo Fonseca officially turned his attention on him on January 8, 2023, against Troyes in the French Cup (2-0). That night, for his first start with Lille, Carlos Baleba lit up the midfield of the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium. Inspired by the ball on foot and effectiveness in the recovery, he tended to slow down the game of the opposing team to allow his team to have a lead and to reposition quickly
Baleba, the "future" of LOSC
For a kid who had just turned 19, Baleba put everyone in his pocket. The proof: three days later, he was a starter for the first time in Ligue 1, during the trip to Brest (0-0). And once again, the Cameroonian midfielder walked on water. Enough to impose himself in the papers of the coach Paulo Fonseca. The Cameroonian nugget already has 4 starts in 10 league games this season.
"Carlos is the future of the club, there is no doubt," said the Lille coach recently. His teammates are of the same opinion. When they talk about Baleba, it is subject, verve, compliments. "Carlos is young, but he brings something different, which is very good for us. He is powerful, strong, he drives the ball very well," said his teammate Jonathan David, in the columns of La Voix du Nord.
Inspired by his father
Born on January 3, 2004 in the city of Douala, Carlos Baleba has always known that a great destiny awaited him in the world of soccer. The kid who, until a few years ago, was kicking empty cans in the streets of the working class district of Akwa, had chosen to follow in the footsteps of his father, Eugene Balepa. His father, Balepa, is a former footballer," says a family friend. He tried a career in France, especially in Saint-Etienne where he tried out. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. He then went to South Africa. Despite the talent we saw in him, he did not have a long career. But he was always a role model for Carlos and his younger brother, who also plays soccer.
If soccer didn't work out for him, Eugene Balepa turned to coaching, to give his sons the chance he didn't have. "From the beginning, Dad instilled in me the work, reveals Carlos in an interview with Losc.fr. There were things he made me do that were difficult, like carrying heavy loads or running for several hours. Everyone told him: "No, he's still a child, you shouldn't do that". But I went at my own pace.
By dint of hard work and self-sacrifice, Baleba joined the prestigious Cameroon Breweries Football School, a real mould for producing talent, at the age of just 13. He was placed under the supervision of his father, a trainer at the Academy. "He took me in charge when I was 14 years old by proposing me programs of weight training and races. I was training with the Academy's U18s. That's when I started to play my current position, box to box. Slowly, Carlos will reveal himself during big youth tournaments of the country.
A lot of people behind Baleba
During the games, the long relay midfielder, walks with elegance, breaks the lines, sucks in his opponents, puts his partners on orbit and makes defenses unhappy. The recruiters present were under the spell of the one who was already presented as one of the best African players of his generation in his position. And very quickly, the offers multiplied. Rennes, Nice, Lyon, Wolfsburg and Atalanta Bergamo came up with the cheque, but it was Lille who finally had the last word. Carlos Baleba was recruited at the end of 2021 for five seasons with the Dogues. Arrived in the reserve team in January 2022, he will then skip the classes, nibbling a few minutes with the pros six months later.
If in Lille he is already a face of the present, in Cameroon, he is expected as a beautiful promise of the future. Carlos has been approached by the Fécafoot twice," a relative of the player whispered. He was offered a selection with the senior team and then with the under 23. But the boy does not feel ready yet. He still wants to progress and improve his game. The time to wear the national colors will come. The certainty, for the moment, is that Baleba has a bright future ahead of him.
