By Rune Gjerulff@runegjerulff

Kevin Mbabu 'learned a lot' from playing in England as a youngster

Wolfsburg's new signing Kevin Mbabu says playing for Newcastle as a youngster taught him a lot.
Kevin Mbabu.
Kevin Mbabu.Photo: Football.ua/CC-by-SA 3.0
In January 2013 - a few months before he turned 18 - Kevin Mbabu left Swiss club Servette to join Newcastle United.

Things didn't go according to plan in England for the defender who ended up making just five appearances for Newcastle before he left to join Young Boys on a permanent deal in 2017.

Nevertheless, Mbabu, who will join Wolfsburg ahead of the 2019/20 season, says he got a lot out of his time in England.

"Without my experience from England, I wouldn't give this interview. Perhaps, I wouldn't even play football at all. It didn't go as I had imagined, of course, but I learned a lot," the 24-year-old told Sport Bild and added:

"I made a lot of mistakes. I was very young and had nobody to guide me. As a child, I was always the best player in my team. Everything was easy, I never had to train hard.

"When I came to England, I thought everything would go just as easily. But no, that wasn't the case. If you want to play in the first team as a young player, you have to show more than anyone else," he said.

Wolfsburg paid €9.2 million to sign Mbabu from Young Boys.

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