In the spring of 2018, Manchester United centre-forward Anthony Martial invited the Under-15s of French club Les Ulis to visit Old Trafford and watch a match in the Les Ulis Academy squad that included a 14-year-old Cambuvara. Cambuvara later recalled the incident in an interview with MUTV, saying: "I was standing in front of the statues of Charlton Athletic, Denis Law, Best [Manchester United's Three Holy Statues] and I swore to myself that I would definitely come back. ”
On his way back to France from England, his team-mates once asked Cambuvara if he remembered his vow, and Cambuvara smiled in his memories of MUTV and said: "Of course I remember, it was my dream to play for Manchester United. Shortly after visiting Old Trafford, Cambuvara joined the Sochaux Academy, captained the Under-16s at the age of 15, joined Manchester United at the age of 16 and signed a professional contract with the club at the age of 17.
Born in Kinshasa, Africa, the largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cambuvara accompanied his family to France at the age of 5 to settle in a strange city, where football became his best friend, and Cambuvara also showed his extraordinary football talent. In 2019, the 15-year-old Cambuvara has caused a sensation in French youth football, he can intercept the opponent's attack, can make long passes in the backfield, and even can advance with the ball.
As a result, the 15-year-old Cambuvara was on the radar of Manchester United's academy in 2019, when United were in the midst of their own youth revival plan, and Manchester United had already spent €10 million to sign Hannibal from France. However, the 15-year-old player could not sign with a foreign club, and Liverpool and Ligue 1 teams were also competing for Cambuvara, but Cambuvara waited for Manchester United for a year, and when he turned 16, Manchester United spent 3.5 million pounds to sign him, and he joined Manchester United at the same time as Garnacho, Alvaro, Jurado and other players.
However, Cambuvara has not been a standout newcomer to Manchester United, having been out for 11 months with a serious injury in his first season. He was stretchered on his debut and didn't return from injury until Manchester United's 8-2 win at Birmingham City in September 2021, and has since suffered a handful of injuries before making his senior debut for Manchester United this season.
Not long ago, Manchester United legend Patrice Evra praised his French countryman in a podcast, believing that Cambuvara has the potential to become a top central defender, and Manchester United's French central defender Varane also praised Cambuvara in an interview with MUTV, saying: "He is showing his quality, I think he will play more games in the future and continue to improve, he is young, he is showing his quality, we trust him, he has a great future. ”
Ten Hag complimented him, saying: "I think we've seen a lot of the skills of a modern centre-back. "It looks like Cambuvara's future at Manchester United is bright, however, Manchester United's academy centre-backs have a tradition of being injury-prone, Mensah, Mengi, Tuanzebe have shown their potential, but injuries have limited their development, and the post-Ferguson era Manchester United youth has not yet produced a centre-back to play for the first team, will Cambuvara be the centre-back who breaks the curse of injury at centre-back?
Of course, this group of Manchester United youth training has a very positive outlook, for example, Menji, who joined Luton Town, recently said in an interview with the Daily Mail: "Being a footballer is only a period of being excellent, but being a good person is a lifelong thing." ”