A Premier
League footballer feared he was being kidnapped after he got into the
wrong taxi outside his hotel. Newcastle
United’s new £8.5m signing Chancel Mbemba, who does not speak
English, was left panic-stricken by a bizarre series of events on the day of
his debut.
The
21-year-old DR Congo international left the Hilton Hotel on Gateshead Quayside
and climbed into a waiting cab thinking it was a club-hired vehicle to take him
to St James’ Park.
The driver
was in fact booked to go to a supermarket in Newcastle.
He tried to
explain this to Mbemba but the star did not understand.
The driver
set off for the store and when he went past the ground, Mbemba started to
panic.
To add to
the bizarre chain of events, the player was dressed in a £117 black Tuxedo
suit, white shirt and dicky bow from Next - after being told to ‘look sharp’
for match days.
It is
believed he tried to call club officials, but eventually ended up getting
through to the translator hired to help him settle in England.
He assured
him: 'Chancel, I think you have got in the wrong cab’.
The player,
frustrated and worried at being late - which would have incurred a large club
fine - was unable to explain this to the taxi driver.
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