Yann M’Vila: “Rennes took me a bit for an idiot”
In an interview with the Rouge et Bleu podcast from Ouest-France, Yann M’Vila spoke about his professional signing with Stade Rennais, and the difficulties encountered when wanting to return to train with his training club.
At 34, Yann M’Vila signed up for his 8th club this summer, at the Stade Malherbe in Caen. With the 14th in Ligue 2, the midfielder has been a starter since the start of the season and delivered his first assist against Guingamp on September 30.
Trained in Rennes, M’Vila nevertheless spoke of the particular context of his signing as a professional around fifteen years ago. “When I signed my first professional contract (1 year aspiring and 3 years professional), I had pressure from my training director, Patrick Rampillon. I had to go to the U17 World Cup and he told me: “either you sign your contract or you don’t go to the World Cup”explains the player to Ouest-France.
“I tell him that he is not a coach. And, in the process, the coach calls me and tells me the same. They both agreed. There are lots of things in the world of football that are cruel. Many speak from the outside, without knowing what we experience from the inside. I was stuck. Me, in my head, I only thought about playing, and playing this World Cup. So I’m going to see my father, to ask him to sign. But he tells me no. We had a meeting with the director of the center, my dad and me. In the end, it ended with a check for my father and that’s it, I signed the contract. »
“I gave them visibility and yet, I don’t even know if I’m on their walls”
Then grateful to Frédéric Antonetti, the first coach to have launched him professionally, M’Vila recounts his inability to return to train in Rennes in 2015. “When I talk about Rennes, I speak in the past tense. Because when I was in trouble and I asked them for help, the club was not there. I don’t even know if in the years to come, a guy playing for Stade Rennais will make 22 international caps for Rennes. I could have gone to war with this club to leave. But I felt good and out of loyalty I stayed. When I try to come back just to train with the club, I am refused every door. Even training individually was no. It was in 2015, after Inter Milan. I played six months and then I spent six months without a club. Conversely, what Caen is doing is very strong, helping Alexis Beka Beka to get back on track. It’s a very strong gesture to help someone who is not doing well. Rennes took me a bit for an idiot.”
Before concluding further. “I had 22 caps for the French team while playing in Rennes, I gave them visibility and yet, I don’t even know if I’m on their walls. I gave everything for nine years. I didn’t win anything, of course, but I was there. I hope that I will be considered better in Caen (laughs). »
Trained at SRFC, Yann M’Vila played 150 professional matches there, scored 4 goals and delivered 6 assists.
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