You discovered Maradona of Naples last Thursday, you started for the first time in the league on Monday in Bolzano and this Tuesday you moved to your new home in Palermo. How does the native of Ploufragan adapt to this new life?
Pleasantly surprised! I feel great. I was really well received by the managers, the staff and the players. It’s good to live. I arrived at a very professional club, with excellent infrastructure, where everyone takes great care of the players to ensure that things go well.
Trained in Guingamp, then National 2 in Saint-Brieuc then Brest: you had never left Brittany before and you even played with the number 22 on your shoulders to represent your department. How are you experiencing the departure?
It’s true that I was well on my way to tour Brittany, all I needed was Lorient and Rennes… (Laughs.) As I told my loved ones, I am 26 years old and I needed to discover something other than France. An adventure abroad, indeed. And I’m very happy to have left. I’m still going to have quite a few visits in the coming weeks, there are quite a few relatives who have already booked their tickets to come see me. Well, I also had to change my number, because here 22 is reserved for goalkeepers.
Perhaps I had served my time after four seasons, despite the Champions League, despite the exceptional season on a collective level and which will remain engraved.
This departure, after Brest’s historic season and qualification for the Champions League, was a surprise, even the sporting director of Brest was surprised. Can you explain to us?
I know there was the Champions League with Brest, so it wasn’t necessarily an easy decision to make. But I got this call from Palermo at the beginning of July and I really felt that they wanted to have me. They insisted that they were counting on me to come back and that I was part of the future of the club. A club like Palermo, which doesn’t give up until the end of the transfer window, which continues to send messages, that made me think. Especially in recent months in Brest, I had perhaps lost this recognition that I may have had before. And then at 26, I wanted to see something else. It was a good option for me, but also for my girlfriend. I would say it was the right opportunity at the right time.
How did this “loss of recognition” translate?
Personally, I will always be grateful to Brest. They came to pick me up in N2 at Saint-Brieuc, they introduced me to the high level, and I was able to play a good number of matches there. It’s just that I had a frustrating season last year. I lacked success, I hit the post five times. From the end of January I was sidelined, which I also understand, that’s how it is. But there have been things that sting a little, like Satriano (since leaving for Lens, Editor’s note) who is a center forward and who plays my left winger position. I hardly played the end of the season except for a few minutes here and there. I thought about my future in Brest. Perhaps I had served my time after four seasons, despite the Champions League, despite the exceptional season on a collective level and which will remain engraved.
Leaving at the right time after all…
That’s it! I’m leaving with a Champions League qualification. I gave everything for this club, they gave me a lot in return. We remained on good terms.
You left at the very end of the transfer window, on August 30. The departure of other attackers, the draw one day before your departure was made official, didn’t change anything in your choice?
No not at all. Contacts had already taken place since the start of the summer, it simply accelerated at the end of the transfer window.
You defined this Stade Brestois team as very united. How did it feel to see them enter the field with the Champions League patch and the famous music?
It’s pretty crazy! Last year, we dreamed of this, so obviously, it’s exceptional. Well, there is still part of the team that is no longer there, but I wish them the best. And then why not qualify? First there was a first great match against Sturm Graz (2-1 victory, Editor’s note). Before the meeting, I spoke with Hugo Magnetti and Romain Del Castillo. We have a small group on Snapchat, where I told Del Cast’ that he was going to score and to Hugo that I wasn’t betting a coin on him, because he doesn’t know how to hit. Afterwards, he puts in a sick shot, while most of his shots in training are off target. (Laughs.) Obviously, I was happy for them.
The important thing is simply that my decision is respected. I needed this, this kind of project.
Then they rolled over Salzburg this Wednesday (4-0)…
Yes, it was an exceptional match, for Brest, for the club, playing two matches and having two victories… I was really looking forward to it, I was already sitting on my sofa an hour earlier to support my friends. It wasn’t an easy match, they suffered in the first half, but they improved well in the second. It was a demonstration of realism. Nobody would have imagined having six points after two days. In any case, it’s great for the friends, I hope they continue like this!
Here you arrive as the highest transfer in Serie B, you are presented as the one who abandons the Champions League to come to Palermo. How do you manage these expectations and this media exposure?
It’s certain that I arrive with a status. My choice inevitably caused people to talk at the beginning, also because people don’t necessarily know the ins and outs… The important thing is simply that my decision is respected. I needed this, this kind of project. We must not forget that we are in Palermo, with an ambitious objective which is to rediscover Serie A. So I don’t arrive anywhere: the club, the supporters, there is a crazy fervor, a stadium of 30,000 people, half of which is already full an hour and a half before kick-off… Everything is put in place here for our success, in particular by the City Football Group.
Actually, you’re not the only one to have been recruited to the next level this summer. Does the fact that the club has belonged to the City Football Group since 2022 change anything in its image among the players?
It’s true that the club went bankrupt a few years ago and was demoted to Serie D. Today, knowing that we are part of this group is something reassuring. We know that everything is put in place to make us efficient. We really have a crazy squad, there is competition, ambition. It is more attractive to play the climb in a club like that than to fight all year to stay on the floor above, it is quite tiring psychologically. This is surely what explains, for example, the arrival of players like Alexis Blin who played last year for Lecce in Serie A.
You mention a first French player to arrive this summer. In total, there are four of you who were recruited in the last transfer window, in addition to Claudio Gomes, already at the club, and Salim Diakité, Franco-Malian. I imagine it helps you acclimatize more quickly.
Personally, it helped me quite a bit. I already knew Alexis, with whom we have the same agents, so we had already met 2-3 times. For the others, I discovered some great guys. The integration was easier, they translated the first instructions given by the coach to me. It’s an advantage, I play on the same side as Salim (Diakité)so for communication, it’s good.
But what is this bunch? Can you tell us a little about them?
This means that the Italians think that the French work well. (Laughs.) Afterwards, each player has his own situation. Thomas Henry for example is on loan (by Hellas, Editor’s note)after experiencing injuries, he chose this project to be able to bounce back. Stredair Appuah, he’s 20 years old, he’s the future. Claudio the same. We’re all pretty young, even if Alexis (angry) and Thom’ (Henry) are a little older. This is how you see that the club is ambitious. They went to look for Appuah in Nantes for example. They want enthusiasm. And then players like Thomas and Alexis who have experienced Serie A, it’s important, they have the experience that they will bring to our Serie B group which is aiming for advancement. Alexis was still captain at Lecce.
It’s with them that you have Brest Champions League evenings, then?
With the move and all that, it’s been complicated, but we should organize it soon.
Brest has already hit a nice jackpot in the Champions League
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