Like the Montpellier football club, last in the championship, Téji Savanier has been in turmoil since his inappropriate and unfortunate words in response to a supporter taken up on social networks. This Friday, the captain of the MHSC was also sanctioned sportingly and financially by President Laurent Nicollin.
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Icon of Montpellier, captain Téji Savanier is at the heart of the turmoil of a club plunged to last place in Ligue 1.
This Friday morning, on the eve of the first meeting of the year 2025, President Laurent Nicollin, bruised by the poor results and the criticism, spoke to his staff in the locker room. Furious at the elimination and the “humiliation” suffered at Le Puy, he awaits a reaction from the group. Then he summoned Téji Savanier in his office. Savanier, recruited from Nîmes in 2019 for 10 million euros, the biggest transfer in the history of the Hérault club.
Less influential playmaker, executive unable to turn around a drifting team, healthy lifestyle singled out, Téji Savanier, aged 33, has just been sanctioned by Laurent Nicollin following an informal exchange with supporters during the elimination in the 32nd final of the Coupe de France at Le Puy (4-0), just before the break.
In the middle of the match, Savanier responded “when you get 210,000 euros, it’s okay” to supporters who were harassing him in the last place of the MHSC.
The exchange, broadcast on social networks via a video, provoked a succession of reactions, a press release from the club, the anger of the supporters and the player's apologies.
This Friday, on the eve of the match against Lyon, the club president had a face-to-face meeting with his captain.
According to L'Equipe, Laurent Nicollin has therefore decided to remove his captain's armband from Téji Savanier. Furthermore, he should be on the substitutes' bench on Saturday against OL.
In addition, the player was financially sanctioned and he agreed to pay 60,000 euros to a charity supported by the club, following his inappropriate comments which created a bad buzz on social networks.
Despite his current decline, with only one goal scored, he still benefits from the confidence of his coach Jean-Louis Gasset, in line with his predecessor Michel Der Zakarian, due to palpable talent for five seasons (43 goals, 32 assists in 163 games). But can his recent slippage alter his untouchable status?
Captain with diffuse power, Savanier does not manage to escape from the pack of thirty-year-old executives on the declining slope, like Wahbi Khazri, whose playing time was cut short by Gasset, just like Der Zakarian, and placed in vain on the list transfers last summer.
The month of January will be hectic, we hear noises, I see players a little disillusioned or worried, or elsewhere. We'll live day by day, it's up to me to find out. But there are a few players who make me feel, perhaps, a desire for elsewhere.
Jean-Louis Gasset, MHSC coach.
The child from the Gély city, in Montpellier, who still lives in his original gypsy neighborhood, does not always respect the codes of sport and high-level football. Der Zakarian, dismissed from his position in October, has repeatedly criticized him for his “extra pounds” and his difficulties in keeping up with a Ligue 1 renowned for its athletic demands.
Today, Téji Savanier has the fate of his training club, and a damaged reputation, between his feet. At the end of a third season in a row in Hérault, marked by a real downgrade, the playmaker can turn into a redeemer or bear the responsibility for relegation.
