Bruno Baltazar, new coach of Caen, explains that he did not communicate with Kylian Mbappé, majority shareholder of the club, before his appointment even if he intends to do so. In the meantime, he wants to “honor” the status of the captain of the France team.
Caen presented its new coach this Tuesday two days after the ouster of Nicolas Seube, club legend. The Portuguese Bruno Baltazar spoke in French to the press to present his project, greet his predecessor and thank President Ziad Hammoud for the trust granted. The latter had preceded him in front of the media to give the reasons for this upheaval on the bench and the choice of this unknown profile in France. Has Kylian Mbappé, majority shareholder of the club since last summer, given his opinion? The leader remained evasive on this point.
Baltazar would like to meet Mbappé in Madrid
“We analyzed the results, they are not there,” he explains. “We waited a while, giving the chance to reverse the trend. With January ahead of us, we had to do it now. It's a very difficult choice.” The sporting director of Red Star, Reda Hammache, announced in Caen but not yet made official by the Normandy president this Tuesday, also certainly had his say on the arrival of Baltazar, globetrotter of European football (passed through Portugal , the Philippines, Qatar, Cyprus, England, Bulgaria or Poland…).
The new Normandy coach explained that he had not spoken with the Real Madrid striker, while being well aware of his presence above him. “With the president and Gérard Prêcheur (director of the training center, Editor’s note) we had several interviews, to get to know each other and see if we were aligned,” he explains. “Of course the shareholder is the shareholder, perhaps the best player in the world, it is also my responsibility to honor his status. I did not get him on the phone unfortunately, I hope to see him in Madrid maybe on a match I didn't expect to be contacted at that time, but I think I deserve…”
While the club is currently 16th in Ligue 2, the Portuguese technician wants to “honor the status” of Mbappé with strong ambitions. “You can call me a dreamer, stupid or naive, but bringing this club to Europe is my dream,” he said. “That's utopian, I know. I want to work in Ligue 1, it's been my career goal for a long time. I'm in the ideal club to get there. I'm nobody in France, I want to bring this club to Ligue 1. Today, we are at national level (reference to the ranking), we have to change that.”
NC with Christophe Lécuyer in Caen
