Stoke City youngster Junior Tchamadeu has entered the international stage with Cameroon, less than three months after his move from Colchester United to the Championship club.
The 19-year-old, England-born defender has been called up to the 24-man Cameroon squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Mauritius and Libya.
Junior, who made his move to The Potteries on deadline day, was headhunted by Cameroon manager Rogobert Song, as the Indomitable Lions try to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as well as prepare for the upcoming African Cup of Nations, which gets underway in January.
The Stoke City defender has seen his career progress massively over the past three months, with his move to the Championship being quickly followed by an international call-up, all before he turns 20.
The Cameroon squad also includes Premier League stars such as Andre Onana and Bryan Mbuemo, as well as two former Spurs players, Clinton Njie and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou.
Junior has made four appearances for The Potters this season, starting just two of those games. However, the 19-year-old has stated that he knows patience is key when making a step up and that he must ‘remain grounded’ as he tries to implement himself as a Championship player.
Stoke boss Alex Neil played down fears of the defender leaving for the AFCON in January when speaking to Stoke-on-Trent Live last week. The Scotsman stated…
“International recognition is vitally important for players. It gets their profiles up. You saw what it did for Harry Souttar. That World Cup and how Harry performed, everyone was talking about him and he got his move off the back of that.”
Stoke will most likely not be looking for Tchamadeu to make a move, like Harry Souttar, Alex Neil has stated previously that the signings of Junior, as well as Bae Jun-Ho and Nikola Jojic, were made to ensure The Potters have a plan as they look to climb the table and eventually be fighting for promotion back to the top flight.
Writer’s View
Junior Tchamadeu is held in high regard by the Stoke City fans. The defender has made two starts for the club so far, as well as coming on as a substitute twice, but has shown his ability in all performances as the Potters were struck with 10+ injuries earlier in the season.
A large portion of fans believe that Junior should be starting games, and based on performances, it’s hard to disagree. But he is still only 19 years old and has a lot of time on his side, so the club probably have a plan for the defender to break into the first team whilst ensuring that he is not pushed too hard and too soon.
The call-up to Cameroon at such a young age is a huge opportunity for Junior to learn from the experienced players around him as he looks to keep advancing his career, both for club and country.