Club: At home, Doué must finally unblock himself

If it was in the renowned Stade Rennais training center and then with his first team that Désiré Doué became a €50M footballer, the amount of his transfer to Paris, the versatile Parisian offensive player is nevertheless a pure Angevin. He was born there and lived there until he was five before leaving for Rennes, spending thirteen seasons there before signing for PSG last summer.

This Saturday evening, Doué will therefore return to a city that he knows well and always carries in his heart as he explained to Ouest-France at the beginning of September: “I still have family here. I often come back to Angers. It’s a pleasure to come back to my hometown.” For this return home, Doué should even be a starter, a rarity for him who has only experienced this situation three times since he joined PSG.

His three starts, against Reims (1-1), Arsenal (0-2) and Strasbourg (4-2), sum up his start to the season very well: three positions occupied on the entire flank of the attack, none decisive gesture and the impression of a player who has not yet digested his transfer. The talent is there and coach Luis Enrique has several times expressed his satisfaction at being able to count the former Rennais in his squad, highlighting his versatility and general quality.

Despite the support of his coach who brings him into practically every match, Doué searches for himself, like the quest for his first goal with PSG which turns into a clumsy obsession, the player chaining shots in each match at great despair of his teammates. But in Angers, the 19-year-old player will return to a stadium that brought him luck: his only goal this season, with the France Espoirs team, was precisely on the pitch at the Raymond-Kopa stadium against Slovenia. Succeeding in the same way with Paris could well look like a real starting point.