The culture shock will have been difficult to digest: nearly seventeen months after landing at AS Saint-Etienne, Peruvian left-back Miguel Trauco is finally adapting to his new life and has settled in the defense of Greens after a mixed first season.
What to follow in a defensive line finally stabilized on Wednesday traveling to Monaco where the Foréziens (14th in Ligue 1) will try to grab a few points in the fight for maintenance.
“I have the feeling that my first exercise here was not the best of my career, but it was not the worst either,” said Trauco in early December to the press.
“Today, I have more confidence in myself. I know more about the club, the environment, life in Saint-Etienne. I am also more open with my teammates, I express myself more. I am on the right track. path “, he congratulated himself when he is not yet autonomous in French.
– Planned departure –
However, Trauco (28), recruited in early August 2019 by ASSE from Flamengo for a million euros and three years of contract, seemed to have to leave the club last summer.
Greece and Olympiakos have shown interest for a while, without following through.
And it is from the stands that he attended at the start of the Greens’ season, first encouraging with three straight wins, then very depressing with a series of seven defeats in a row.
A weight gain after the confinement of last spring in France, far from his family – “without doubt the most complicated period of (his) career” – then a return to training in June with a precarious state of form: Trauco , who came alone to Saint-Etienne, had become a third choice for coach Claude Puel.
– “El mozo” to serve you –
But the injuries of Brazilian Gabriel Silva and especially that of young Yvann Maçon, a right-hander whom Puel preferred to play on the left instead of Trauco but unavailable until the end of the season due to a serious injury, allowed him to seize, finally, his chance.
The match against Lille (1-1) at the end of November was indicative of the progress made by the Peruvian international, best left-back of the Copa America in 2019 and named in the type team of the competition.
Because the player, who played as a playmaker at Union Comercio (2010-2016) before retreating in defense, does not come from nowhere and ASSE can finally be happy that he did not leave.
Proof also that in football, patience can also have virtues, especially when it comes to recruiting players from other continents.
Miguel Trauco, who has 54 caps with Blanquirroja, was voted best player of the Peruvian championship under the colors of Universitario Deportes in 2016 before joining Rio de Janeiro and the prestigious Flamengo.
Facing Brazil and Paraguay with Peru in October, in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, did him good, even though he was held back by a groin injury.
“I did not have a lot of rhythm but going in selection allowed me to regain confidence and a more physical”, admitted nevertheless “el Mozo” (the waiter), nickname which was attributed to him at Flamengo for the quality of his passes.
And it is on one of the centers that he delivered that Arnaud Nordin equalized against Nîmes (2-2) on Sunday, demonstrating that the one who has not left the team since the match against Lille is now totally associated with the recovery of the Greens (1 victory, 4 draws).