Hugo Vandermersch takes advantage of the international break to recover and see again the friends he left this summer in Normandy. The right-back who discovered the professional world at SM Caen has kept many ties to the city and its region. “My wife comes from Caen and I obviously have connections there, we have our house there. Obviously, I will always be attached to Caen. It’s a city that made me grow up. I arrived at ten- eight years, I left at twenty-five All these years mark you and I remain attached to this city even if be careful, I come from the North and the North will always be in my heart before Normandy (laughter).”
“We have a teacher here with compulsory (German) lessons every week”
Loaned last season to Elversberg (Bundesliga 2), Hugo Vandermersch directed his career towards German-speaking Switzerland in Saint-Gall, a city the size of Cherbourg which plays in the elite of Swiss football. “It looks a lot like Germany because in fact, St. Gallen is really at the end of the country and 20-25 minutes from the German border. It’s also close to the Austrian border. Here we speak German so I’m not disoriented compared to last year, but it’s a new context. I’m happy to discover this new region and this new city. I’m progressing in German. We have a teacher here with compulsory courses. Frankly, I’m progressing. I don’t yet speak German because it’s a very difficult language, but I understand it better and better and I hope to be able to understand everything at least by the end of the season. talk a little bit anyway.”
“From the moment they (St. Gallen) presented the project to me, my head was already there”
Hugo Vandermersch played 117 matches for SM Caen before being transferred to Saint-Gall to everyone’s surprise. The right-back was still established three days before his departure for Switzerland. “The transfer window ended the day after the Annecy match (1-1), remembers Hugo. In my head, the transfer window was over and I told myself that I would stay in Caen. And Saint-Gall showed up because in fact, the transfer window in Switzerland had not yet closed. They showed up because their right back had been sold and they had just qualified for the Conference League two days before. They showed such strong interest and such a convincing speech that, in fact, from the moment they presented the project to me, my head was already there.“
The fact that Stade Malherbe was taken over by Kylian Mbappé’s company with strong ambitions was not enough to convince him to stay.
In Malherbe, “we were also very much in the dark throughout the summer”
“It’s certain that there was a great project coming up. Afterwards, we were also very much in the dark throughout the summer. We also know that it is difficult to buy a club. It’s a magnificent project for the club. Now I also had two years of contract left and we also don’t know what the new managers want to do in the future. So I had this offer where everything came together and I also had this chance to discover the Swiss Super League. It’s a truly high-level championship. We are not used to following it while being in France. I didn’t know it either but I realize that it really plays at a very good level because there are few teams. There are twelve teams but they are all equal and want the first places. I’m pleasantly surprised by this. And obviously, playing in a European Cup was also a determining factor.“
“Obviously, playing in a European Cup was also a determining factor”
Hugo Vandermersch played his first two matches in the Conference League against Fiorentina (2-4) and Larne (1-2). It was he who scored the winning goal for his team this Thursday. “I had the chance to play Fiorentina at home. You feel a certain atmosphere, the preparations are not the same. You feel that everything that happens around the pitch, around the match, is something else again. It’s a special emotion. And it’s actually a feeling that you can only experience when you play this kind of match. And I’m really happy to be able to know him in my career and to know him with St. Gallen. It’s magnificent. It’s new because there is this sequence of matches. As I tell my friends and my wife, I am rediscovering the professional world in the professional world in fact. There is a certain degree of professional and there I rediscover an even higher “step”. It’s cool. It’s what every player dreams of doing: playing like that every three to four days, it’s magnificent.“
“I will always be a Malherbe supporter”
Less than three months after his departure from SM Caen and Normandy, Hugo Vandermersch obviously maintains special links with his club and its supporters. Bonds that are not about to fade away. “I almost watched all the SMC matches. I’m in contact with the guys. Besides, I’m going to eat with them this week. Obviously we keep in touch after all these years, even with people from the club with little messages. I always follow what’s happening. As I said when I left, when you spend so much time at a club – especially the club that made me known and grown – you are obliged to remain a supporter and you only want the best for them. I will always be a Malherbe supporter.“
