Saint-Etienne, which has limited means in the transfer window, relies on its training center to supply its first team.
Last season, Claude Puel relied on many players from the ASSE training center, from Etienne Green to Saidou Sow via Lucas Gourna not to mention Mahdi Camara, Aïmen Moueffek and Maxence Rivera. On the other hand, a player was snubbed by the coach of the Greens, it is the midfielder Bilal Benkhedim, winner of the Gambardella with ASSE in 2019. Despite the low confidence of Claude Puel for the midfielder of 20 years, Saint-Etienne leaders have offered a contract extension to Benkhedim, under contract with the Greens until June 2022, in order to avoid leaving for zero euros in a year.
According to information obtained by But, Bilal Benkhedim purely and simply refused the Saint-Etienne extension proposal. Disappointed by his very poor playing time for a year and a half under the orders of Claude Puel, the 20-year-old midfielder has no intention of making a gift to his training club and is already looking for a new challenge. In the event that he does not find a buyer, Bilal Benkhedim could return to AS Saint-Etienne but to date, this is absolutely not the trend. It will also be interesting to see if Claude Puel will use Benkhedim more in the coming weeks in order to convince him to extend. Within the Saint-Etienne workforce, the 20-year-old midfielder faces stiff competition for his post with players who have already shown great things in Ligue 1. This is particularly the case of Lucas Gourna, Mahdi Camara, Adil Aouchiche, Yvan Neyou or even Zaydou Youssouf, all in Claude Puel’s little papers for several months.