In Marseille, impatience is not the prerogative of the stands. If the coaches or players who fell under the boos and pressure of the Vélodrome can be counted on the fingers of both hands and both feet, the young shoots who left too early are also starting to accumulate. This time, Enzo Sternal, 17 (he will be 18 on May 28), is playing around, unhappy with his 22 minutes accumulated in two games this season. Extended this summer until 2027, it should not last long in Bouches-du-Rhône. It was strongly announced in Anderlecht, while Roberto De Zerbi did not fail to put him in his place at a press conference.
Time has no time for time
« I think Jonathan Rowe and Luis Henrique are more ready than him. » It is with these terms that the Marseille technician chose to justify the lack of playing time of the young Sternal. A clear, concise and relatively firm way of explaining things, which should logically be enough for a 17-year-old player to understand why he doesn’t play more than that in the first team. Except that here we are in 2025, and not playing all the matches when you have the label of great football hope is experienced as an affront and, sometimes, as a legitimate reason to demand a departure. A problem that the Italian coach does not really understand, rightly so: “Young people must have the patience to grow, mature, progress and wait their turn. I think I’m one of the coaches in Europe who has brought in the most young players, so really, I don’t focus on the names, but on the results. When they deserve it, they will play. »
A strong message to the players, but also to those around them, which he did not fail to emphasize by taking the example of one of his best players: “ If Rabiot has to be on the bench because a youngster has to play, don’t worry, Rabiot will be on the bench. But if Rabiot is better than the youngster, then he will be the one to play. It’s clear for you, it’s clear for the players’ agents, it’s clear for the parents of young players, it’s clear for everyone. » A way of also warning against sometimes unfounded desires for playing time. And the love of the swimsuit in all this?
Wet the swimsuit? Only if I play!
After all, it’s only two and a half years since the kid arrived in the South, he who is above all a product of Lorraine, of Nancy more precisely. Could this justify his lack of perseverance in Marseille? Hard to hear when we know that he wore number 10 in the youth categories, was a major element and above all won a title of French U17 champion in 2023 before winning the Gambardella in 2024. Something to tie in knots a special relationship with a club which remains the one which formed him on paper, and where he quickly understood that the odd mistakes would not be forgiven him. In Belgium, he certainly had guarantees about his playing time, and the 43 cumulative appearances of three of the four young people aged 20 or under in the squad probably reassured him on this point. But he will arrive during the season, in an already established squad which is aiming to qualify for the play-offs. Above all, he has yet to prove anything professionally that could push Anderlecht to automatically install him in a regular rotation.
Especially since the precedents of Isaac Lihadji and Marley Aké could serve as jurisprudence for young Olympians. After respectively 2 and 26 professional matches in Marseille, those who were announced as the future stars of the Marseille team chose to leave the ship, attracted by the sirens of LOSC and Juventus, at 18 and 20 years old. Today at Al-Arabi in Qatar and at Yverdon Sport in Switzerland, these two players did not have the expected trajectory.
With 31 players under contract, the Marseille squad certainly does not leave much room for the young gems of the Robert-Louis-Dreyfus training center. Among those freshly arrived from the club’s youth categories, few have really played with the pros under De Zerbi, or even last season. Sternal therefore has 22 minutes, while Darryl Bakola (17 years old) only had 11; Gaël Lafont (18 years old) has not seen the pitch since his 10 minutes against Benfica last year; Keyliane Abdallah (18 years old) only accumulates 5 minutes in two games. Finally, only Bilal Nadir (20), scorer against Le Havre, has made more than 10 professional appearances (14), although he was hampered by a serious injury last year. For the moment, none of them have complained, and we imagine that they are continuing their learning. Which should be a norm for young people who have barely reached the age of majority.
Roberto De Zerbi firmly frames the impatient Enzo Sternal
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