‘I’m an ex-Man Utd star who set a bonkers Guinness World Record before pocketing Mbappe’

Axel Tuanzebe’s finest moment in a Manchester United shirt came in a stunning win over Paris Saint-Germain in 2020. The defender dominated Kylian Mbappe much like he outclassed his team-mates in a battle to set a bizarre Guinness World Record during a pre-season tour two years earlier.

A surreal picture from United’s trip to the USA in 2018 shows Tuanzebe posing alongside Guinness World Records adjudicator Adam Brown. With two smiles for the camera and the iconic certificate placed in the middle, the Red Devils academy product had just set the new global benchmark for… kids’ tabletop game Hungry Hungry Hippos.

For a while, Tuanzebe’s time of 17.36 seconds to clear a table of Hungry Hungry Hippos, set after a battle with former team-mate Ro-Shaun Williams, stood unmatched.

Other United players also spent some downtime trying to write themselves in the history books – albeit not in the ways they’re used to – as part of a collaboration with Guinness World Records in Arizona.

Tuanzebe was the only player to break new ground, but unfortunately for him, his record is now a thing of the past. American Donald McNeill is now the man to beat after clearing a Hungry Hungry Hippos table almost three seconds quicker than the former Red Devil (14.69 seconds).

Tuanzebe was only 20 years old with a smattering of first-team appearances under his belt at the time of his curious pre-season achievement. More than two years later, he would enjoy a night to remember.