26-year-old DJ Buffonge spent four years at Manchester United youth training. He trained with the first team under Van Gaal, Mourinho and Solskjaer. He has formed a deep friendship with Rashford, Sancho and Angel Gomez. They are still close friends today.
Receive the In an interview with Athletic, recalling Manchester United's time, Buffonge said: "It was an unforgettable time, good and bad. It taught me how self-discipline, how strong my mentality and how to maintain strong motivation to maintain stable performance in such a high level of game."
Buffonge joined Manchester United at the age of 16 in 2015. He had previously played for Arsenal and Fulham: "Fulham was the most pleasant time in my football career. At that time, I was very immature and full of energy. At that time, my only goal was to be the best player. I attracted the attention of a lot of people. At that time, I played as a winger at the U16 and was promoted to U18 to play Manchester United. It was that game that I left a deep impression on Manchester United scouts."
At that time, Buffonge also received recognition from two Manchester United legends: "That was in the season." Before the game, Manchester United youth training director Bart and first-team assistant coach Giggs were both on the court, and they were very surprised by how I performed. Then they took me to a room where computers were everywhere, and they analyzed my every touch, no-ball run, and what they liked and didn't like, which was very encouraging to me. "
After coming to Manchester United's U18, Buffonger was quickly promoted to the U23 with his outstanding performance in the midfield, but according to the players, Manchester United U23 coach Warren Joyce's management style was old-school: "It was almost like a military camp, and it was fine for some players, because some players were very passionate about gym training, while others liked playing football and loved everything on the court. I think when the two were combined, the players would be able to play at their best, but the environment was too strict at the time, some players would feel ”
"No matter how hard I train and how good I perform, he has players I trust, and I can only do a lot of training. From U18 to U23, I did feel the difference in physical confrontation and intensity of the game. At U18, we focus more on technical skills, and at U23, if you can show good running skills in training, you can get a chance to play, which is a different challenge, so I had almost no chance to play during that time."
Buffonger said that the contradiction between his United U23 coach was not only training, but also some unusual requirements: "Joyce would say to me, 'I want to tell Mourinho that you can't make your debut under him unless you cut your hair.' I couldn't figure it out at the time, they were kidding, but I really wanted to play, I couldn't see My hairstyle has something to do with whether I can play or not. "
" There will be a lot of jokes in football, but at that time I didn't know what the youth training is now, they would make a lot of jokes, but even these knowledge jokes, I still remember because when you're fighting for your position, anything looks like a signal."
"I'm a young player and want to get playing time, I'm looking for guidance, and if the guidance is to let me cut my hair, it doesn't make much sense to me. I remember later when I came home and asked my mom, wondering if I should go to cut my hair. I actually cut my hair a few months later, and I didn't shave it completely, but nothing changed after I cut it."
And Joyce said that he didn't remember saying that to Buffonger, but he admitted it was part of his management. Buffonge also revealed that he was deducted a week's salary for tattoos: "There was a rule that youth team players were not allowed to be tattooed. I followed the rules until I was 18 years old, and then I could have a tattoo. I decided to tattoo a sentence on my chest: 'I came to this world to be the best self, to fulfill my mission and to do it bravely.'"
"It's very important to me, and I can see myself in the mirror on game day, and even if I wear short sleeves, no one can see it, but I'm still punished for it. Now, everyone in the United youth team has a tattoo, expressing themselves in this way."
Speaking of the situation before leaving Manchester United, Buffonger said: "At that time, I began to feel that some decisions were not related to football, more like political issues, but no one could tell me directly what the problem was. For a long time after that, I didn't play at the U23, just occasionally get minutes of playing time, and there was no clear explanation. A few weeks passed, I knocked on the coach's door and asked, 'What do I need to do in training to get back to the team?' I don't understand, I've been confused for a long time. "
" Until one day, after the training, I had lunch with some teammates, and Mourinho walked in. I met him when I was in Fulham because his son (a goalkeeper) was there too. He came over and said to me, 'DJ, I want to know why you haven't played lately, you did you perform well in the last game, is it because you were not in good health? Is there any problem? ' I told him, 'I really don't know. '"
" Then Mourinho said, 'Okay, then you come and train with us now, I'll tell you why you can't play. ' I spent most of the time since then training with them, but Mourinho didn't give me a clear reason, but he said: 'If I can say one thing, it's never walk on the court.'"
Buffonger's Manchester United time finally came to an end in the summer of 2019. After that, he joined Spezia freely, and has been to the teams such as Pertletes, Nijmegen, and Tersda in the past few years, but none of them have stabilized.