Lille: who is Carlos Baleba, the gem developed in Cameroon?

Paulo Fonseca officially fell for him on 8 January 2023, against Troyes in the Coupe de France (2-0). That night, making his first start for Lille, Carlos Baleba lit up the midfield at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Inspired on the ball and effective at winning it back, he tended to slow down the opposition's play, giving his team-mates a split second's head start and the chance to reset quickly.

Baleba, the "future" of LOSC

For a youngster who had just turned 19, Baleba won everyone over. The proof: three days later, he started in Ligue 1 for the first time, away at Brest (0-0). And once again, the Cameroonian midfielder walked on water. That was enough to earn a place in head coach Paulo Fonseca's good books. The Cameroonian gem already has 4 starts in 10 league games this season.

"Carlos is the future of the club, there is no doubt about it", the Lille coach said recently. His team-mates share that view. When they talk about Baleba, the praise flows freely. "Carlos is young, but he brings something different, which is very good for us. He is powerful, strong, and he carries the ball very well", his team-mate Jonathan David said not long ago, speaking to La Voix du Nord.

Shaped by his father

Born on 3 January 2004 in the city of Douala, Carlos Baleba always knew a great destiny awaited him in football. As a boy, only a few years ago, he was kicking empty tin cans around the streets of the working-class Akwa district, and he had chosen to follow in the footsteps of his father, Eugène Balepa. "His father, Balepa, is a former footballer," says a friend of the family. "He tried to make a career in France, notably at Saint-Etienne, where he had trials. Unfortunately it didn't work out. He then moved on to South Africa. Despite the talent we saw in him, he didn't have a long career. But he has always been a role model for Carlos and his younger brother, who also plays football ".

Since football didn't work out for him, Eugène Balepa turned to coaching, to give his sons the chance he never had. "From the start, Dad instilled a work ethic in me," Carlos reveals in an interview with Losc.fr. "There were things he made me do that were hard, like carrying heavy loads or running for several hours. Everybody told him: 'No, he's still a child, you shouldn't do that'. But I went at my own pace ".

Through hard work and self-denial, Baleba joined the prestigious Brasseries du Cameroun Football School, a real talent factory, at just 13. And in a twist, he was placed under the supervision of his father, a coach at the academy. "He took me back under his wing when I was 14, giving me strength and running programmes. I trained with the academy's U18s. It was from that point that I started playing in my current position, box to box ". Gradually, Carlos emerged in the country's major youth tournaments.

Good company behind Baleba

In matches, the tall, slender box-to-box midfielder glides around elegantly, breaks lines, draws opponents in, sets team-mates up and leaves defences deflated. The scouts in attendance were won over by a player already billed as one of the best African players of his generation in his position. And very quickly, the offers piled up. Rennes, Nice, Lyon, Wolfsburg and Atalanta Bergamo all came forward with money, but it was Lille who got their man in the end. Carlos Baleba was signed in late 2021 on a five-season deal with the Dogues. He arrived in the reserve team in January 2022, then skipped several steps, picking up a few minutes with the first team six months later.

While he is already a face of the present at Lille, in Cameroon he is seen as a bright prospect for the future. "Carlos was approached by Fécafoot twice," a relative of the player says quietly. "He was offered a call-up with the senior team and then with the under-23s. But the lad doesn't feel ready yet. He wants to keep progressing and improve his game. The time to wear the national colours will come ". The one certainty for now is that Baleba has a bright future ahead of him.

Arthur Wandji