You probably remember Thierno Barry, this 1m95 French striker to whom Sochaux did not deign to grant a professional contract despite his effectiveness (10 goals in 22 matches) in the reserve team.
Nothing to panic about, however, since Lens held out his arms to him.
But a sprained knee during the test swallows up this attractive Plan B
A boon for… KSK Beveren, to which he will bring in 3 million euros after 33 matches where he left his mark on the Challenger Pro League by stacking up 20 goals, often with the help of Dieumerci Mbokani (16 goals and 8 assists in 24 matches) during the 2022-2023 season.
FC Basel (41 matches, 20 goals), which was quicker on the move than its hometown club, Olympique Lyonnais, will make an even better deal, by selling Thierny Barry to Villarreal for 14 million euros, a year later.
“He was already talking to me about the French team and the Champions League in Beveren!”
A fairly improbable rise when we remember the player’s Sochaux misadventure, while he had previously already experienced other setbacks of the same kind in U19 in Toulon.
Thierno Barry’s performances in the Spanish Liga, where he is a regular starter, earned him a call-up to the junior team by Bleuets coach Gérald Baticle.
An injury, however, delayed his international debut, but without altering his pride in being recognized as one of the best players of his generation, after all these years spent in the shadows.
“The French team has always been his ambition. He made no secret of it and this great confidence in him amazed me”, admits his friend and ex-teammate at Beveren Kévin Hoggas (today at… Sochaux ) In The Team (https://tinyurl.com/mr7erxtu). “He also told me that we would find him one day in the Champions League…”
“I can dream of anything…”
Villarreal are fourth in the Primera Division, before this Sunday’s trip to Osasuna (2 p.m.).
Barry scored three goals and delivered two assists in a team where he plays alongside luminaries like Raul Albiol, Daniel Parejo and Nicolas Pépé, “guys I had on FIFA”, laughs the ex- Waeslandian.
“I admit to you that I was not in my mood during my first match in Seville (1-2), where I replaced Nico (Pépé, editor’s note) in the 65th minute. I had to pinch myself for believe in it…”
Barry has yet to understand that he is now one of the leading French strikers at the moment, even a model for those who encounter obstacles on their way to the top.
“I don’t control anything, I live the thing, but I don’t suffer it. I can dream of everything…”, he concludes in The Team.
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