Player #917 for Aston Villa, Axel Tuanzebe, played as a centre back for Villa in the 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons.

Axel was born in Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on 14 November 1997.

Villa initially signed Tuanzebe on loan from Manchester United on 25 January 2018 until the end of the 2017-18 Football League Championship season, but successive injury problems limited him to just 5 appearances under Steve Bruce as Villa qualified for the Championship Play Off final, only to be defeated by Fulham.

Axel made his first appearance in the Villa squad as an unused substitute on Tuesday, 30 January 2018, in the Championship win over Sheffield United and would make his debut for the club in the following game as a 67’ substitute for Robert Snodgrass in the 3-2 win over Burton Albion on Saturday, 3 February 2018.

Axel would make his first start for Villa on Saturday, 17 February 2018, as Villa lost 0-2 to Fulham and made his second start in the following game as Villa drew with Preston North End. It would be over a month before Axel next appeared for Villa, and he made his final appearance of his first spell with the club on Tuesday, 10 April 2018.

Despite his injury problems and own admission that Villa’s style under Steve Bruce didn’t suit his game, Villa had seen enough potential to re-sign Axel for the 2018-19 Football League Championship campaign, with Tuanzebe rejoining the club on 6 August 2018.

Tuanzebe’s second season with Villa was significantly more fruitful than his first, as Villa’s faith in his potential was repaid with some excellent defensive showings.

On his re-arrival, Bruce immediately put Axel into the first team squad, and he made 10 starts under Bruce before he was sacked with Villa languishing off the pace in the Championship promotion reckoning.

With the arrival of Dean Smith as Villa boss and his more attacking, inventive and possession-based football philosophy, Axel continued to blossom. Axel made 10 appearances before succumbing to injury once again, and he was out of first-team reckoning for 17 games, but he returned to the side halfway through Villa, setting their record run of 10 League wins between March and April 2019.

Thereafter, Axel went on to play 10 of the 11 games to the end of the Championship season and over his 30 appearances in 2018-19, he proved to be an integral figure in Villa’s return to the top flight after an absence of 3 years.

Tuanzebe played his final game for Villa in the Championship play-off final win over Derby County on Monday, 27 May 2019, aged 21.

A player Villa would undoubtedly like to have signed on a permanent basis for their initial return to the Premier League, but his parent club preferred to retain his services as a backup to the first team rather than allow such a prospect to leave.

Villa, for their part, moved on with Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, Kortney Hause and Björn Engels for their 2019-20 defensive options; however, in 2021-22 Tuanzebe would return to Villa once again under Dean Smith on a season-long loan.

Smith’s premature sacking however, brought the inept Steven Gerrard to the club, and Tuanzebe had little interest in playing under the new regime, terminating his loan early and returning to Manchester United in January 2022.

Tuanzebe had played under Steve Bruce, Dean Smith and Steven Gerrard.