The 17-year-old was handed an unfamiliar centre-forward role in the Carabao Cup third round at the Etihad Stadium, and he responded by heading in Allan Elias’s cross after 29 minutes. Samba then curled in City’s fourth after the interval to help beat Championship side Norwich 5-0.
Manager Enzo Maresca had picked him as a makeshift number nine, and told City’s official website that Samba had said he had never played there before.
“I asked him in the last three or four days when I decided to play him as a nine - I asked him if he had played [that role] and he said he had never played there before!” Maresca said.
Samba’s family were in the crowd, with his mother Theresa and older brother Tyrone Samba both wearing shirts carrying his name and number. Younger brother Emerson, 12, is also coming through City’s academy, while their father, Christopher Samba, played for Congo after spells with Blackburn Rovers and Queens Park Rangers.
“That’s the main thing, to support each other whenever we’re down, help each other, and whenever the other’s doing well, be proud of them, congratulate each other. It’s just how it’s been all the time,” Samba said after the game. “To have three brothers at City. I think my dad’s done a good job in helping all of us, as a player, as a person and the character and mentality. It’s helped all of us.”
“We used to get so mad! We used to play in the garden all the time. With Emerson I still do a bit as well in the garden when I’ve got time. It’s really competitive. [Emerson] is aggressive and he’s so tall as well. He’s only 12 and he’s already up to my shoulder, so he’s an aggressive player, defender.”
Samba joined City’s academy at Under-9s level and scored a 25-yard free-kick in last season’s 2-1 victory over Manchester United in the FA Youth Cup final, with Tyrone alongside him in the side.
His international future is less settled. Samba has played for England’s youth teams and could also represent France or Congo, but the Manchester Evening News reports that he will link up with Germany’s Under-19s during the break and is in no hurry to commit.
“We’ll see in the future. I think the opportunity will come somewhere, so I’ll just have to wait for that,” he told the Manchester Evening News.
He believes his father’s career has helped him handle a night like this one.
“I think it gives us a big advantage because obviously he’s been through the game and everything. He knows how to deal with it when things go wrong. He knows everything, so he’s always given us advice. I think that helped me today,” he said.
“It’s amazing because obviously he had to sacrifice a lot as well. It was much harder for him than it was for us. If you look at it, we got it easy and he got it really hard, so he knows how it is.”
He saved his final tribute for his mother.
“It’s really inspiring. And my mum as well, I can’t forget her because she’s done everything, brought us to training every day. She’s sacrificed everything for all three of us, and she’s still doing that with Emerson now as well. She’s amazing. I’m happy to make her proud every day.”