Newcastle United Linked with Player Who Was Born in 1988, 1990, 1991 or 1994

Anderlecht defender Chancel Mbemba has been linked with Newcastle United, despite the fact that nobody seems to know what age he is.

The Congo defender has been playing for the Belgian giants since 2012, but it is still unclear whether he is close to his prime or still just a promising youngster. 

The Sun reported Newcastle's interest by saying: 

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Toon super spy Graham Carr made a personal trip to check on versatile Mbemba on his return from the African Cup of Nations where he played for Congo.

Mbemba will leave Belgium in the summer and the Geordies are keen as we revealed last year, but they still worry about his exact age because of conflicting information in his records.

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The confusion of Mbemba's age was reported by CNN in 2013 in an article entitled: "Football's age fraud: FIFA probes player with 'four birthdays.'"

In the report, CNN revealed:

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Mbemba was registered by his two first Congolese clubs as being born in 1988, according to documents obtained by CNN. Yet for a Cup of Nations qualifier in June 2011, his year of birth was listed as November 30, 1991.

Meanwhile, the birth date recorded by his Belgian club Anderlecht is August 8, 1994.

Just to complicate matters, Mbemba himself, thinks he was born in 1990.

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If he is a good player, he is a good player, but you can imagine Newcastle being keen to get this sorted out before putting an offer on the table.

[The Sun, CNN]