Newcastle signing thought he was being kidnapped on debut

Newcastle Unied new signing Chancel Mbema was left panicked by a bizarre series events before his Premier League debut.

The £8.5 million defender believed he was being kidnapped after he got into the wrong taxi as he tried to get to Newcastle's season-opening match against Southampton.

The Congolese international, who doesn’t speak English, jumped into the taxi outside his hotel believing it had been arranged by the club.

But instead of going to St James’ Park for his debut the driver took him to a supermarket instead.

Mbemba’s lack of English meant he couldn’t understand the driver when he explained he was booked to drive to the supermarket, and not the 52,000-seat stadium.

It is believed he tried to call club officials but could only get through to his translator, who assured him, “Chancel, I think you got the wrong cab.”

“It all turned out fine for him,” a source told the Daily Mirror. “But he really did think he was being abducted at one stage and the whole situation was difficult because of the language barrier.

“It was funny afterwards, but hard for him at the time. The driver apparently thought he had the right fare.”

And during it all Mbemba was wearing a black tuxedo, complete with bow tie, after being told to ‘look sharp’ for match days.