Month: January 2024

Ligue 1 side Lorient are in advanced negotiations with Swiss outfit and INEOS-owned club Lausanne Sport about the possible signing of 22-year-old German central defender Moritz Jenz, according to L’Équipe.

Under contract until June 2023, FCL have been looking for a central defender all window, having lost Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea) and Andreaw Gravillon (Inter Milan) when their loan spells came to an end.

Jenz came originally from English side Fulham.

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Les Merlus will be without Jérémy Morel and Loris Mouyokolo for the foreseeable future in this position owing to injury.

RMC Sport report that a major European club, via intermediaries, has been attempting to court Angers Sporting Director Sebastien Larcier.

The aim of this has been to get a sense of where Larcier’s head is at in terms of if he could be interested in leaving.

Larcier, who has been in his post since April 2020 after leaving Dijon for Le SCO, has rebuffed their advances.

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Speaking in an interview with TYC Sports, PSG attacker Angel di Maria discussed his experience with Jorge Sampaoli when the Marseille boss managed Argentina.

“I do not know what I can tell you, but the truth is that it started very well and it ended very badly. He treated me like I was one of the best, and after a single match, he put me on the bench, threw me aside like nothing had ever happened, without explanation… He is a very strange guy. It started well with everyone and it finished badly with everyone.”

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PSG play Marseille in the 24th October weekend.

L’Équipe report this afternoon that UEFA have reached an agreement with the Scottish authorities that will allow their Brazilian internationals – Bruno Guimarães and Lucas Paquetá – to travel to Scotland for their Europa League tie against Rangers.

The pair had been on international duty with Brazil last week, and would have otherwise had to quarantine for 10 days on their arrival in Scotland, having been in a country on the UK government’s Red List.

Lyon will fly out to Scotland in their private plane and will stay in a hotel entirely reserved by the club.

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Xherdan Shaqiri, however, will not be travelling to Glasgow, as he is yet to be fully vaccinated. The newly-arrived Swiss international had received his first dose on arriving at Lyon at the end of August.

 

 

Foot Mercato report tonight that although French midfielder Clément Grenier remains a free agent, the former Lyon and Rennes man is in talks with various clubs in Europe and attracted interest from the MLS.

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The 30-year-old left Brittany at the end of last season after a three-year spell, which included a Coupe de France victory in 2019. Grenier is now training individually with a private coach twice a day, as he waits for a “serious project” to come.

The midfielder was sounded out by numerous clubs over the summer and in the last few days, although no concrete moves came about.

According to a source close to Grenier contacted by Foot Mercato, he remains in discussions with numerous clubs in Europe, notably in Spain and Italy, but no significant advances have been made.

Interest has also arrived from a club in Qatar, while several MLS clubs could sign him as a Designated Player in January. Contacts have also taken place with Ligue 1 clubs, but are not moving along quickly – Grenier is instead looking for discussions to advance for a move abroad. The former French international is set to be looking for a “real project”, rather than looking for the highest salary.

Speaking to Prime Video in the aftermath of his team’s 1-1 draw against Lorient last night, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas lamented the refereeing decisions which, in his eyes, cost his side points in their last two matches.

Referring to the decision to send off Emerson after 15 minutes, leading to the free-kick from which the Brittany side opened the scoring, Aulas pointed the finger at the official and the non-use of VAR.

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As for the game against Paris Saint-Germain, he highlights the decision to award Neymar a penalty which allowed Les Parisiens’ equaliser, despite replays showing the Brazilian had pulled down defender Malo Gusto along with him. OL would go on to lose the match 2-1 after a late Mauro Icardi winner.

“I dreamt of a match on equal terms. A bit like in Paris, strangely we’re not disappointed by the result but rather the quality of the refereeing and what VAR hasn’t done. As a director I am immensely disappointed as VAR is not bringing to the table what it should. A referee can make mistakes, especially when he is young and lacking experience [Bastien Dechepy, last night’s referee, is 35], but there are things at stake which can’t be ignored. Nobody from the refereeing committee has spoken about the monstrous error [to award Neymar the penalty]. We’ve just lost five points on refereeing decisions.”

In an documentary produced by DAZN about Neymar, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder notably reflects on the injury he suffered at the 2014 World Cup, which he points out as “one of the worst moments of my career”. 

The production also sees the Brazilian international state that the 2022 World Cup would likely be his last as a result of the mental toll that football has and will have taken on him at that point, as he reaches 30.

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“It was one of the worst moments of my career. It destroyed my dream to keep playing in the World Cup. When I felt that pain in my back, I remember that Marcelo wanted to help me up, but I was really in pain. I then tried to move my legs, but I wasn’t able to. I didn’t have the strength to get up. I told them: ‘I can’t, I can’t, I can’t feel anything’.”

“The doctor told me, ‘I have good news and bad news’. I asked him to tell me the bad news first. He said, ‘your World Cup is over’. I started sobbing, and asked him, ‘and the good news?’ – he said: ‘you were two centimetres away from not being able to walk anymore’.”

 

French football’s professional league body, the LFP, held a Board of Directors meeting today, resulting in the body deciding to formally oppose the idea of a World Cup every two years.

In a statement, the LFP asserts that “FIFA want to take a decision which serves just their interest and of which the impact is irredeemably negative for the domestic leagues and the clubs as employers of the players.”

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They further add that they feel that the prestige of World Cups should be preserved and that FIFA should instead focus on development of professional club leagues rather than more international tournaments.

The project is the brainchild of FIFA’s Head of Football Development Arsène Wenger.

It’s hard to keep track of Marseille’s wealth of young talent. The summer acquisitions of Barcelona winger Konrad de la Fuente as well as Arsenal pair William Saliba and Mattéo Guendouzi on loan, were well publicised while Boubacar Kamara and, to a lesser extent, Luis Henrique were already on most European scout’s radars. By comparison, the rise of Senegalese striker Bamba Dieng feels like it has come out of nowhere.

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In fairness, the 21-year-old only made the journey from Senegal to France in October 2020. The move came a year after Marseille solidified a partnership with Dieng’s club, FC Diambars, a Senegalese side founded in 2003 by Patrick Vieira. In 2019, Diambars were returning to the Senegalese first division after relegation two seasons earlier, Dieng had joined in 2014, aged 14. Three years later he was starting for the first team, scoring 12 league goals in the 2019/20 campaign – 67% of Diambars’ total goal output. Dieng was on course to finish as the league’s top scorer before the pandemic abruptly ended the season.

Dieng played upfront and was described by Senegalese paper Enquête as the ‘architect’ of Diambars’ attack, adding to a variety of comparisons and conflicting descriptions that have been attributed to Dieng throughout his short career so far. Former Liverpool and Senegal forward El Hadji Diouf compared Dieng to Chelsea legend Didier Drogba but Drogba disagreed, saying it was a little early for comparisons and that “when I see his performances, I say to myself that he has pep and he’s skilful in front of goal”.

At 5’8 with electric pace, Dieng’s style can feel more reminiscent of fellow Senegalese forward Sadio Mane’s as evidenced by his debut Marseille goal against Auxerre in a February 2021 Coupe de France tie. With Auxerre pushing for an equaliser, Dieng was put through on goal and held off a recovering defender before firing low in at the near post. Dieng ended last season with just 127 minutes of Ligue 1 action, with that being his only goal in 2020/21. Although he quietly impressed during his first Ligue 1 start in a 3-2 win over Nice, those humble figures make his recent explosion even more surprising.

At the start of September, Dieng was handed a start against Monaco with Dimitri Payet and Arkadiusz Milik injured. Despite the untold complexities of Marseille’s 3-2-4-1 system, Dieng scored twice in a man of the match performance as part of a 2-0 win.  Both strikes were outstanding. Dieng pulled wide for his first after a long lofted pass from Luan Peres. After beating Axel Disasi to the ball, Dieng jetted into the box before an accurate finish at Alexander Nübel’s near post. His second came after originally losing control of the ball as Amine Harit carried it into the box, sliding it into Dieng’s feet. Dieng rolled his marker before firing into the near post. Ironically, the strike was reminiscent of Drogba, particularly his ability to bounce a marker under pressure.

Still, with less than 340 minutes of Ligue 1 football played, it’s hard to build a solid picture of Dieng’s abilities. From what we can tell though, Dieng is a shot-heavy player. He’s averaging just under four per 90 league minutes, which would put him in the company of strikers like Harry Kane. Despite a tendency to pull wide, Dieng has only completed three dribbles in six appearances, reinforcing the idea that he is more forward than midfielder or winger. Footage of his days at Diembars also shows his shots were so powerful they often left goalkeepers rooted while, regardless of where he’s deployed, Dieng’s illusive movement has been particularly impressive.

Whether he plays upfront or on the left hand side of Jorge Sampaoli’s constantly evolving system, Dieng will face competition. Konrad de la Fuente, Amine Harit and especially Dimitri Payet have all started the 2021/22 season in good form but Dieng has the backing of his coach. “He has a lot of explosiveness and a good quality of shot. He’s a player with great potential for the club,” said Sampaoli when asked about putting Dieng straight into the first team.

Time will tell just how effective Dieng can continue to be. Despite goals being hard to come by since that Monaco victory, the signs are positive. We are at the beginning of what will undoubtedly be an interesting career. Bamba Dieng could become an asset not only for Marseille, but also for Les Lions de la Teranga.

AB

 

This weekend, Ligue 2 leaders Toulouse made an impressive, but hardly surprising, comeback from 2-0 down away at Paris FC to take a point and retain their position at the top of France’s second division table. The equaliser was an 85th minute masterpiece scored by a player who is fast becoming one of the league’s premier talents. With five minutes left, Rhys Healey received the ball with his back to goal just inside the 18-yard box, surrounded by four Parisian defenders. With the ball still bouncing, he shifted to give himself half a yard of space and, on the turn, buried his shot in the side netting with his weaker left foot to level the game.

If you’ve kept even half an eye on Ligue 2 this season, Rhys Healey is a player you’ll be well aware of. Healey currently sits atop the second tier’s scoring charts, with eight goal in twelve games, and that’s without taking responsibility for Toulouse’s penalties, of which Dutch midfielder Branco van den Boomen has totted up three already this season. What is perhaps more of a shock is Healey’s journey up to this point.

Like van den Boomen, Healey arrived in Toulouse last summer, both players signing for around £500,000. But, to British ears, Healey’s name piques interest. As it is, players from countries outside of the Francophonie are a rarity in Ligue 2. Other than France, the most common nationalities are Senegal (26 players), Cameroon (13), Mali (9), Algeria (9), Côte d’Ivoire (9) and Morocco (9). Rhys Healey makes up one third of the English players in Ligue 2, the other two being 22-year-old Nancy goalkeeper Nathan Trott, who is currently on loan from West Ham, and now 21-year-old Jonathan Panzo, the Dijon defender who won the under 17 World Cup with England in 2017.

However, while Trott and Panzo might still be considered youth prospects, Healey is reaching his peak at 26. Born in Manchester and starting out at Welsh side Connah’s Quay Nomads, his route to Toulouse has been one of frustration and perseverance, having played in all of England’s top five divisions as well as both the Welsh and Scottish top flights having moved to Cardiff in January 2013, following impressive form in the Welsh Premier League.

There, however, he struggled to make his mark on the squad. A first-team debut didn’t arrive until over a year after his transfer, on the final day of the 2013/14 season when Cardiff had already been relegated from the Premier League. On that day, he got fourteen minutes against the Chelsea of Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah, Oscar and Fernando Torres. Afterwards he was loaned out to five different clubs throughout the English and Scottish footballing pyramid, including National League club Torquay, League Two’s Newport and Colchester of League One.

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It was while on loan to Milton Keynes Dons that Healey’s form began to finally pick up. Joining for the first half of the 2018/19 season, the Mancunian scored eight in eighteen appearances, helping the Dons to promotion to League One. During the second half of the season, he added three more Premier League appearances with Cardiff, with whom he was eventually relegated for a second time. Understandably, Healey then chose to sign with MK Dons on a permanent basis for the 2019/20 season.

Before the suspension of the season in Spring 2020 due to the pandemic, Healey scored eleven goals in nineteen appearances, making him the club’s top scorer and was subsequently voted the Dons’ Players’ Player of the Year. It was this impressive form that attracted Ligue 2 club Toulouse in the Summer of 2020. Despite his positive experience in Milton Keynes, Healey chose Toulouse, a decision which has again reignited his career.

Upon signing for the southern side, Healey received the number nine shirt, one which fits his style perfectly. He is as traditional a centre forward as they come, with his strongest attributes being positioning, finishing, composure, heading and strength. Of the 23 goals he has scored for Toulouse in the last 15 months, all but one have been from inside the box while more than a quarter have come from inside the six yard area.

However, as his goal against Paris underlined, it would be unfair to say he only scores tap-ins. The majority of his goals display an impressive calmness and confidence, particularly when faced with a number of defenders in tight areas. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Even when Toulouse score without his direct contribution, Healey is always in shot, anticipating a rebound or a deflection. As a result, he has become a fundamental part of the Toulouse squad, only missing one game this season and starting every other fixture. Last term, he made the most appearances in one season for with a single club (36) in his entire career, the previous best being 23 with Newport in 2016/17.

Rhys Healey is finally settling in to a club for the long term, grasping his opportunity. However, should his form continue, it’s not difficult to imagine interest from bigger sides from around France and Europe. The choice between staying put or moving on once more would certainly be a tricky one. But, for now, his sights will be firmly set on getting TFC back into Ligue 1. Should the Englishman’s purple patch continue, promotion, much like Healey’s strike at Paris, would hardly be a surprise.

JW