The mixed years in Marseille of this 1.92 meter Croatian guy who arrived from Salzburg, in exchange for almost 20 million euros in the summer of 2018, at just 21 years old, are long gone. A young boy with a regular look in his socks, often borrowed, sometimes even leaving the impression of being a little timid. From the nightmare of his first Marseille appearance on the Costières lawn, at the end of August 2018, to the Conference League semi-final in the Dutch cauldron of De Kuip, in April 2022, for one of his last outings in the Marseille jersey. Two shipwrecks and the symbol of the Olympian stay of a player not yet ready.
The time has come, in the summer of 2022, to cross the Channel. Head to Southampton for barely more success. One season, three coaches and, soon enough, the broom closet of a drifting ship. Unwanted, Duje Ćaleta-Car lands in Lyon on loan to everyone's surprise at the very end of the 2023 summer transfer window. His arduous mission is to make Castello Lukeba forget. Result, under Laurent Blanc, four nightmarish little matches and then leaves. Triquard, again, both with the President and under Fabio Grosso. Until the arrival on the Lyon bench of Pierre Sage in November.
Bears, affect and the Adriatic coast
How to get a player losing confidence back into the saddle? Assistant to the Rhone technician, Jamal Alioui remembers the moments spent trying to recover a player at the bottom of the hole with a spoon: “Duje was really very marked by the previous months. We talked a lot with him. It was by creating proximity and showing him our trust that little by little, he lifted his head above water. » A major project for the staff at the time looking for a reliable central hinge. And responsible for playing the shrinks of an entire damaged locker room to be remobilized. “ Duje, it's a bearlaughs Jamal Alioui ten months later. A very discreet boy who needs to feel loved. Concerning him, trust is an essential element. The first step to being able to benefit from everything we have been getting from it for several months. »
We could have afforded a nice vacation with his fines for delays when he started in Liefering then Salzburg.
A character trait that Peter Zeidler well recognizes who, at Leifering in 2014, already identified the Lyon defender as “a boy with great emotional intelligence”. “It’s true that you have to love him. He needs that, not to always be criticized, indicates the former Bochum coach. But at the same time, he was a player who could fall into comfort with a slightly lazy side. You have to stay behind him and find the right balance. We could have afforded a nice vacation with his fines for delays when he started in Liefering then Salzburg. »
In Lyon, the player learned to be on time, but Duje remains Duje. “ The delays are over, but it's true that he can still have this somewhat peaceful side, smiles Jamal Alioui. At the end of last season, I was laughing about it with Nemanja Matić, who is his best friend at the club, telling him: “It’s crazy, Duje is never stressed.” Nema answered me : “Mais Jam', he comes from a region in Croatia (Šibenik, town located on the Adriatic coast) where there is the sea, tranquility. These are people who, basically, are not stressed. It’s his culture.” » And to continue: « But yes, at the beginning, we also had to push him to question himself so that he also asked himself why he hadn't played until then, why it hadn't worked for him at Marseille, at Southampton and his beginnings with us. It's never all black on one side and all white on the other. »
Questionable body language, difficult contexts
Partner of Duje Ćaleta-Car at OM between 2018 and 2020, Bouna Sarr identifies the body language of his former playing buddy among the causes of his difficulties in Bouches-du-Rhône. “It’s true that in Marseille, it was sometimes complicated for him, especially at the beginningremembers the former Bayern player. He arrived very young (21 ans) in a special context. He didn't feel confident, and the somewhat nonchalant image he could project didn't help him. The Marseillais love players who give their all on the pitch. From the outside he could seem a little clumsy, detached. Yet, frankly, that wasn’t the case. »
The Marseillais love players who give their all on the pitch. From the outside he could seem a little clumsy, detached. Yet, frankly, that wasn’t the case.
In Marseille, Duje Ćaleta-Car will never really be appreciated. The story of a snake biting its own tail, his failed debut not having encouraged the sulphurous Marseille supporters to adore him and provide him with the dose of confidence it seems necessary for his fueling. « I'm not surprised to see him so strong in Lyon today, continues Bouna Sarr. He was able to find a lot more confidence there than in Marseille, and Duje, with confidence, is a potential top defender. Whether it's athletically or on the rebound, he's very strong. A complete defender. »
Teammate of the man at Southampton during the 2022-2023 season, Romain Perraud also remembers a high-quality player who once again found himself in a complicated context on the other side of the Channel: « It's a shame because we clearly saw the player he could be. Unfortunately, it didn't go the way he wanted at Southampton. We could see that he wasn't necessarily happy. At the beginning, things went well with Hasenhüttl then, at a certain point, the management made the choice to put him in a sort of loft. But even after that, he never complained, remained professional, took care of himself. »
A nature painting guy appreciated by all
Not made for the washing machine of a football more exposed than ever in the age of social networks, the Duje? His use of Instagram gives the beginning of an answer. At the heart of an environment in which the photo application is omnipresent in the communication of the players in the game, Ćaleta-Car stands out. Typically, Gift Orban's mishap after the match against Auxerre (2-2) is not likely to happen to him. Self-centeredness? Very little for him too. On his Instagram page, only four photos. In mid-July, the publication of one of them even earned him a scolding session from the very connected Clinton Mata and Gift Orban. « He finally post something »laughs his Angolan defense friend in the comments. The 28-year-old Croatian international is apparently more concerned about the happiness of his family than about his number of followers. “Duje seemed very close to his family, with a small circle. Not an extravagant boy with a huge network », recalls Nasser Larguet, interim coach at OM in February March 2021.
In Marseille as elsewhere, if there is not always unanimity on the ground, Ćaleta-Car brings everyone in agreement on the human aspect. “ In a locker room, even if he is a very discreet person who tends to stay in his own corner, that does not prevent him from being integrated », slips Bouna Sarr. Even surprising his former teammates with nice touches. “ It's someone with a good heart, confides Romain Perraud. Outside of football, we didn't see him much because he devoted all his time to his family, but for example, I recently became a dad, and Duje, who is not at all a phone person, made a message to his wife to congratulate me. However, we had lost sight of each other a little. It touched me. » So many appreciated character traits now associated with impressive consistency on the pitch which allowed him to return to the Croatian selection after two years of absence. “That also did him a lot of good”concludes Jamal Alioui, delighted to see his protégé (finally) reach maturity.
In the head of Bruno Genesio
