Cameroon: talent drain sparks debate

Carlos Baleba, Regis Mughe, Mimb Baheng, Aboubakar Naguida… All these players share, among other things, two common traits: they are Cameroonian and they left their homeland at 18. They are not the only ones to have left so young in recent years. It is a situation that raises eyebrows in the land of Samuel Eto'o, because these youngsters leave Cameroon for small sums and are sold on by their European clubs for millions of euros. For example, Carlos Baléba was bought by Lille for 650,000 euros in January 2022. Today he is on the verge of joining Brighton for close to 30 million euros, more than 40 times his value when he left Cameroon. That is a "catastrophe for Cameroonian football" according to Alain Denis Ikoul, a Cameroonian journalist, speaking to Actu Cameroun. He continues: "This raises a problem: that of how Cameroonian talents are valued".

"A Brazilian, Argentine or Uruguayan player of equal talent and age to these young Cameroonians will first play in his own country's professional league for at least 2 years, become a minor national star at home between 18 and 20, before being transferred to Europe, generally for staggering sums", Ikoul adds, worried about the future of football in Cameroon.

Does sporting nationality matter?

The journalist also points to another major problem. In his view, a player's sporting nationality has a big influence on how he is valued. A footballer in Cameroon does not command the same price on the market as one in Brazil, even if the two are equal in intrinsic talent. "For example, Neymar, who developed in Brazil, played in the Brazilian league with Santos until he was 21, before being transferred to Barça for 88 million euros. His compatriot Vinícius, who also developed in Brazil, first played 69 professional matches in Brazil before joining Real Madrid for 45 million euros. The Argentine Julián Álvarez, who developed at River Plate, first played in Argentina for 3 years before signing for Manchester City for 21 million euros (...). What about the youngsters who play in Elite One in Cameroon before leaving?", the media man asks.

He goes on: "The best player of the best championship in Cameroonian football history (2021-2022), Souaibou Marou, who plays for the best Cameroonian club of the 21st century, signed in South Africa for less than 200 thousand euros at 22. The same year, the two top Cameroonian scorers, Bertrand Mani and Enow Kembe, signed for less than 100,000 euros to difficult destinations. The year before, Lambert Ngueme Ariana signed in the Maghreb at 21 for an equally derisory sum, and he has now dropped off the football map. Today no club in the world is ready to put 200,000 euros on a talent like Patient Wassou". According to Ikoul, all this is weighing down the Cameroonian league.