Was it obvious to you at the time to start Neal Maupay with the pros?
It's not the first one I've launched at this age, I did it with Eden Hazard (in Lille, editor's note) too. I like taking young people to training. In his category, Neal was above what I saw, he was very mature. He confirmed it in training and I gave him a chance. He had exceptional physical density for his age, firmly planted on his legs, powerful and with a lot of character.
You never really know when you're launching a youngster, but he wasn't timid, quite the contrary. He was successful from his first appearances, enormous in his game and his personality. He was already pulling the opposing defenders apart. When he started, he was well up to the task and he brought us a lot.
He could have had a career at Nice, but you didn't keep him. For what reasons?
He didn't really understand at the time, but he had been stagnating for a while. He was on the “reserve”, he did not understand that his game had to remain based on his physique, that he should not lose this commitment and this aggressiveness. His game was super interesting provided you kept these characteristics. He left for Saint-Étienne, Brest, then the Championship, where he rediscovered the essence of his game while progressing in all parameters.
In Nice, he no longer had the necessary commitment at a given moment, he was a little wait-and-see, favoring a technical side even though that is not his style. It wasn't him. He didn't understand it. I haven't seen him since.
Did you continue to follow him?
-Yes, I was in England when he was there too. I thought he had progressed enormously. He had become much more complete in his movements, in his first control, his discounts, his sequences, while retaining this ability to press, to go for contact and duel. He had a very good level, he could even have approached the national team, but he was in England and undoubtedly less visible. When he signed for OM this summer, I said to myself that if he had kept his level, he would be a very good recruit for Marseille.
How do you find it this season with OM?
I haven't seen all the matches, but I see it as very important for the team. We don't realize the work he does on defenses and everything he does to help his team. If he adds the last pass and goals, it will be extraordinary for him and for OM. He puts such pressure on the defender, he has such an impact… And then, he is very interesting with his back to goal and without the ball.
