Mbemba was now six years younger with a new date of birth -- August 8, 1994. How -- and by whom -- that date was arrived at isn't entirely clear.

Mbemba himself has continued to say in interviews that he was actually born in 1990. Regardless, with the new club and his new birth date, the paperwork trail began to catch up with him.

One of Mbemba's former club presidents, Bernard Yuka of E.S. La Grace, decided it was time to claim a training compensation fee from Anderlecht -- given that the Congo team had helped train him and was, therefore, entitled to development costs associated with nurturing him as a player.

Yuka mandated the Brazilian agent Paulo Teixeira, who has experience of working with small African and South American clubs to obtain player development payments, to help E.S. La Grace obtain the money from FIFA, which adjudicates such cases.

During a conversation between Teixeira and Yuka -- the Brazilian has provided CNN with a transcript of that exchange -- the E.S. La Grace president allegedly told the agent that FECOFA president Omari wanted the training compensation case dropped.

Last year Teixeira submitted the transcript to FIFA as part of a dispute case he was involved in with AC Milan and Anderlecht. And on Thursday, the world governing body confirmed it was now investigating the issues surrounding the Mbemba case.

Teixeira told Yuka he was happy to drop the mandate, but that the paperwork from Mbemba's spells at E.S La Grace and Mputu was not going to go away.

"I knew the club had rights on the matter, so I pursued them," said Yuka earlier this week, who also verified to CNN the conversation he had with Omari in April. Omari refused to discuss the issue when he was contacted by CNN.

Birthday present

At the start of 2012, Mbemba's case developed a Kafkaesque twist.

Despite the fact that he had made his debut for Anderlecht's Under-19 team in September 2011, playing against Club Brugge, it emerged that the Belgian Football Association had never registered the defender.

As a result, Mbemba was technically ineligible -- according to source with directo knowledge of the situation -- to play either in that match or in two others when he turned out for the Belgian powerhouse.

"At this moment the Belgian FA is working on the complete digitalization of its official match sheets which will be completed by July 1, 2013," said the Belgian FA. "From then on, situations like this should no longer be possible."

To further complicate matters, FIFA became involved in March 2012 -- because if Mbemba in fact had been born in August 1994, he was technically a minor under the governing body's Transfer Matching System rules.

"Please understand that the date of birth of any player noted in the Transfer Matching System (TMS) is confidential to parties involved in the transfer of that particular player," FIFA said in a statement to CNN. "Therefore, we are unable to provide it to you.

"Generally speaking, we have to highlight that a falsified passport is a legal offense which has to be followed by legal authorities. TMS is a tool which provides all parties that are involved in a transfer with all the details they need to know about the player, and helps to bring transparency into a transfer."

Opacity

With confusion growing around Mbemba's status, Anderlecht sent him back to Kinshasa.

"Taking into account the opacity of the case and the legal consequences that may arise, Anderlecht has decided not to offer an employment contract to Mbemba," said the club's general manager Herman van Holsbeeck in a letter to FIFA, which was part of the documentation given to CNN.

When asked to provide clarity about the irregularities in Mbemba's case, Anderlecht requested time to prepare a response, before communication and media manager David Steegen announced that the club would have no comment on the subject. The agent Baglio and Entacheite president Max' Moxey also also declined to return CNN's calls to shed light on the Mbemba affair,

Mbemba's return to Africa was tough for him to take.

"I was born in 1990," said the defender. While in an interview with the Sharkfoot website in April 2012, Mbemba said: "I don't understand. Fabio Baglio told me that I had to go to Africa to come back to Anderlecht later. In May, Entacheite president Max' (Mokey) told me I will go back.

"Anderlecht's managing director told me I will sign a professional contract in August. The chairman of La Grace will sign a document to confirm my date of birth as 1994 and I can come back."

In June 2012, Mbemba's prospects brightened when the Congo national team's French coach Claude Leroy picked him to play against the Seychelles in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

Soon afterwards a Kinshasa court ruled that Mbemba was, in fact, born on August 8, 1994 and he was given the perfect present when he was handed a three-year deal with Anderlecht.