Axel Tuanzebe was only four years old when his family left Bunia, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in search of a better life in England.
He can still recall the house he shared with his grandparents, parents and siblings and its tall red gate that opened onto a dirt road. Mum, dad, Tuanzebe, his brother and sisters relocated to a block of flats in Rochdale that was part of an estate enclosing a five-a-side pitch at the heart of the community, and though Tuanzebe spoke only Lingala, a Bantu language, it was there the barriers of spoken word fell away.
“Football is the international language,” the Burnley defender tells The Observer.
“You have a ball, you take jumpers off and put them either side and you have your goalposts. And off you go and play.
“Moving to a different country, different mannerisms, different cultures, it’s always difficult. But I made a lot of friends playing football, connected with different communities and from there went on to a local football club and never looked back.”
Tuanzebe soon learned that football was a language he spoke more eloquently than most, and within a few years he was scouted by Manchester United. He was considered the strongest defender in his age group and Marcus Rashford the leading attacker – formidable team-mates who shared “great battles” on the training pitch.
“If anyone was going to make it at the top level, it was always going to be him,” says Tuanzebe. He became the first first-year scholar since Gary Neville to captain the Under-18s, a first-team debut aged 19, the youngest player to captain the first team, aged 21, since Norman Whiteside in 1985.
But like many promising careers, injuries, chance and fate meant it wasn’t to be at Old Trafford. He tasted success on loan at Aston Villa, went up from the Championship and down with Ipswich.
Then, out of contract last summer, he was convinced by Scott Parker to become a key figure in newly promoted Burnley’s attempt at Premier League survival. The thing that has struck Tuanzebe about Parker is “how much he cares about you as a person”, rather than simply what players can offer on the football pitch.
Their first conversation, when Parker sold him his vision, was quick and straight to the point. Subsequent interactions have been far deeper.
“He spends a lot of time, wants to learn, and finds out everyone’s living conditions. I really appreciated that, that he’s asking about my family, how I am, how he can help to facilitate things.
“It’s different from other managers. You can have managers who just see you as an asset. You’re here to play games and the rest is your life. But he takes a real interest in how things are off the pitch and it means a lot.”
On a recent Sunday afternoon, players were encouraged to bring their kids to a little get-together at a private venue, where they enjoyed food and music.
“It was something I’d never done before as a player,” says Tuanzebe.
There is, of course, still a long way to go, but there are signs that Parker’s pragmatic, family-orientated approach is working. After nine games, Burnley had already accumulated almost half of their points total for the 2023-24 season, when they were relegated.
Tuanzebe has been placed at the centre of a defence on which Parker is building the foundations to stay up. Into that defensive mix he has added the vast experience of Kyle Walker.
Does a player with a recovery pace that has inspired a thousand YouTube highlights reels still have that speed at age 35? “He’s still got the legs!” says Tuanzebe.
“He’s a bullet. Still fast as anything. It’s great to see him moving like that at his age. He’s got a good few years left in him.”
Can Tuanzebe – once described as “faster than Usain Bolt” in a newspaper headline – beat him in a foot race? Tuanzebe laughs. “I’ll give it to Kyle. I’d put myself as the underdog. It’d be a good race, but I think Kyle’s still got it.”
Walker has, Tuanzebe explains, quickly become a “driving force” in the team.
“Regardless of what he’s won or where he’s been, he doesn’t mention that, doesn't perceive himself to be bigger or better than anyone else here. He just does his job, a good craic with the lads and he’s always present for anything off the pitch, which someone his age could easily not want to be involved in.”
It transpires that Tuanzebe actually met Bolt at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix a few years ago – “For me he’s one of the greatest athletes of all time” – which leads him to telling The Observer about his other passion: Formula One.
Tuanzebe has an F1 simulator installed in his home and on Sundays off loves nothing more than watching the grand prix and using the simulator.
His passion for the sport grew from watching the sport with his dad and brother growing up and following Lewis Hamilton’s journey. Beyond the racing, he enjoys the technology behind it, the intricacies of building the cars, the rules and politics – though he isn’t allowed to race a real car around a track.
“It’s something I’d love to do once I’ve retired,” he says.
There is, however, much to achieve before then. For fans jaded by England games during international breaks, there’s some mouthwatering jeopardy in the World Cup playoffs.
DR Congo, who Tuanzebe chose to represent in 2024 after playing for England at youth levels, face either Jamaica or New Caledonia for a place in next year’s World Cup.
And then, in what will be a blow to Burnley, Tuanzebe flies to Morocco for the African Cup of Nations in late December and will possibly be away until mid-January.
“We want to leave with some silverware,” he says. “It’s going to be really difficult but we believe in ourselves. It will be something great for the nation to celebrate, to have a positive, to enjoy, rejoice. We want to do that first and foremost for the nation, so we have good times ahead.”
Photograph by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images