Foot – Mercato – ASSE
The situation of AS Saint-Etienne continues to be commented on in recent days. Between financial concerns and internal tensions, the Greens are under tension. This is how Claude Puel decided to speak in the columns of L’Equipe to discuss the summer that awaits the Greens. And as expected, ASSE will not splurge.
What transfer window for the Greens? After several very ambitious contracts under the orders of Jean-Louis Gasset then Ghislain Printant, theAS Saint-Etienne embarks on an austerity cure. As revealed by le10sport.com last February, this time Claude Puel plans to rejuvenate its workforce for next season. In this perspective, several frames will not be kept in the event of great offers like Stéphane Ruffier, Loïc Perrin or Yann M’Vila and Yohan Cabaye. same Wahbi Khazri is concerned by a strategy which is taking on even greater importance after the crisis of Covid-19 which particularly impacted the finances of Saint-Etienne. Besides, the plan is already launched since theASSE suddenly announced the contract extensions of Wesley Fofana (19 years old), Charles abi (20 years old) and Mahdi Camara (22 years old). But in order to supervise all these young people, Claude Puel wishes to retain some of its key elements.
Bouanga and Fofana, Puel’s priorities
So in the columns of The team, the coach ofASSE looked at the ambitions of the Greens for a long time this summer, and he notably displays his desire to keep Wesley Fofana and Denis Bouanga, two of the best Stéphanois of the season: ” It is with this type of player (Bouanga and Fofana, editor’s note) that the club can continue to project itself into the future. We will therefore do everything to keep our best players. I insisted a lot on extending Wesley because it seems essential to see him for a few more seasons with his training club. Afterwards, I am not naive. The lifespan of a young person in a French club is not very important. Finances have been impacted. The presidents have made a tremendous effort in borrowing. This pandemic gives the project even more consistency. The previous model is not tenable. The circle is no longer virtuous ” These two files are also crucial, as le10sport.com revealed to you, to the point that they become sources of internal tension between a management who wants to recover large transfer fees and a coach who wants to keep a workforce. competitive.
No transfer over 4M € …
In this perspective, it will also be necessary to recruit. And this is where the problems start since theASSE will not have the means to reproduce the same transfer window as during the two previous summers during which Wahbi Khazri (€ 7M), Rémy Cabella (6M €) or even Denis Bouanga (4.5M €) have landed. And Claude Puel is well aware of this: ” The club remains solid. But he must try to reduce the payroll. Transfers at 4 or 5 M € will no longer be possible. The first act before my coming, that of Kolodziejczak, will surely be the last of this magnitude this season. I accept this economic constraint because I know where the club is. The previous project impacted the possibilities of moving quickly to another. ” Timothy Kolodziejczak, whose purchase option estimated at 4.5M € has therefore been exercised, is already almost certain to be the most expensive summer recruit of the Greens’ summer. A situation which therefore tends to confirm the strategy of Claude Puel.
Puel wants to bet on young people
Indeed, aware of the limited financial means of theASSE, Claude Puel intends to rely on young people. A strategy already launched with the arrival ofYvann Mason this winter and which should continue with the arrival of the Epinal striker, Jean-Philippe Krasso, as le10sport.com recently revealed to you. Also in the columns of The team, the Stéphanois coach justified his plan and recalls that it always worked like this: I am in the position of a workforce builder. I am counting on young people who are not going to represent a heavy investment. Yvann Maçon, for example, has a potential that can bring him to a very high level. In Monaco, I took Eric Abidal as an amateur, in Lyon-Duchère In Lille, Adil Rami in Fréjus and Aurélien Chedjou. In this regard, I find it healthier to be more demanding in our professional signatures. The model should no longer be that of having young people sign to supervise the reserve. We have to train them to play in the first team. “In other words, the flight plan of theASSE for this summer and now very clear. And the Greens shouldn’t splurge …