EX-MANCHESTER UNITED youth star Ntumba Massanka played alongside Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay, but believes he is living the sweet life as a cake business owner.
Tottenham-born Massanka moved to Manchester with his pastor parents aged four, and within 12 months he had been eyed by the United scouts after playing in a youth tournament at the club’s training ground.
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But now 28, while Rashford, 27, and McTominay, 28, are fully-fledged internationals for their nations and racked up almost 700 United appearances between them, life took a very different path for Massanka.
He was one of the few not to be plucked from Fletcher Moss Rangers by the Prem giants following six years there.
Speaking to talkSPORT, he recalled how being released by the Red Devils at the age of 12 left him “heartbroken” and made him “sick for a week”.
Massanka would go on to have spells in the Manchester City academy, as well as playing in Italy, Belgium, Cyprus, and for Wrexham and Macclesfield.
After being brought back to England to play for the Silkmen by then sporting director Robbie Savage, he helped them win the NPL Division One West in 2023.
But the team ended up having more than the sweet taste of victory as Massanka used his skills running the family cake business, called Tshibangbakes, to treat his colleagues.
The cakes were devoured within 10 minutes and that pushed the cake-baking ace to expand the business.
Massanka explained: “My passion and my love have always been football. That’s always been my first love.
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“But as I’ve started to do business, one thing I realised is that there are so many transferable skills from football that I’ve now taken into this business that I’m doing now.
“I have a real passion for it, and I really enjoy being able to deliver really good desserts to people. I love networking. I have seen a massive change.”
And last month, he was given a helping hand by Liverpool new boy Jeremie Frimpong as he launched the Pathways Tournament x Career Fair, aimed at empowering youngsters to discover new career opportunities.
The tournament proved to be a success, with plans already being drawn up to expand it next year, as Massanka said: “I feel like Manchester needed something like that and it came at the perfect time, to be honest.
“It’s great to see, obviously, Jeremie back in England. He’s done really, really well out in Germany. He’s an absolutely amazing man. We’re all really proud of him.”
Massanka recalls how he had felt like he was kicked out of his “family” when he left United, but believes the work his generation has done has ensured there is more support for youngsters in similar positions to him.
He continued: “I was training pretty much every other day when I was a kid. So obviously, you miss out on a lot, don’t you?
“I feel like now, when it comes to my friends who have not played football and they just live the normal life, that tracks. If that makes sense. I’m behind in life. Whereas they’re more probably established.
“But I think that the support’s only there because my generation, I’d say, has forced it to be there. A lot of things are happening now. Kids are getting paid better when they’re coming through academies. There’s a lot more care.
“I still think there’s so much more that can be done for kids, also. Every club should have a duty of care that when a player comes into their system, whether that’s from six years old or 15 years old, they should be gathering information on that player.
“Not based on their football ability. They should be gathering information based on what the person actually likes outside of football.”
Massanka reckons he was “very, very lucky” to have a sister and mother who managed to help him find something he enjoys doing outside of football after admitting he had “never” dreamt of doing anything except playing for United.
He adds: “I’ve only ever played football. I’ve never even dreamt of doing anything else. At United, the coaches always used to say, ‘Maybe one of you will only ever play for United.’
“And the chances of [just one doing] that are slim. So you need to know what you’re doing.”
In terms of his two former headline-making team-mates, he admits he never expected Rashford to leave Old Trafford but reckons Barcelona “suits” the attacker, adding the “best players should play at the best clubs”.
In the case of McTominay, described as standout player in his age group, Massanka believed he would be a captain of the club one day.
He revealed the Scot actually told him he was set to join Napoli, saying: “He did say to me that he’s going to Napoli.
“I was just happy for him, to be quite honest, because I know what it’s like going to play abroad and leaving home. I was really, really happy and thankful it’s worked out for him.”
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