During an interview with “Rothen ignites” on RMC, Claude Puel notably returned to the departure of Wesley Fofana to Leicester for 35 million euros. A departure which had a negative impact on the sporting results of AS Saint-Etienne, but which above all enabled ASSE to avoid being in default of payment, and therefore to avoid a possible bankruptcy.
“Since my arrival, we have had to deal with a lot of things. The sporting aspect is closely linked to the economic aspect. We started with a renewal of the model because ASSE had to go into debt very heavily to mount its team and have a successful team at that time. Upon my arrival, ASSE no longer had the possibility of renewing itself and assets to ensure the salaries that had been given. It was therefore an obligation to open the door immediately to certain young people, to give them time to play, to train them, to create assets if necessary, to be able to sell them to fill deficits and that is unfortunately what we had to do with Wesley Fofana in the first year. He stabilized us and I remember that we were first with three wins and a draw when he was there. It was a big loss for us and we saw the player he was “, said Claude Puel.
Many criticize Claude Puel because of the poor results, but the coach of ASSE has recovered a time bomb that he is trying to defuse. The purpose will be to maintain AS Saint-Etienne this season, and to find a financial balance at the beginning of next season, with in particular the departures of high salaries who will be at the end of the contract, namely Ryad Boudebouz, Timothée Kolodziejczak, Romain Hamouma , Wahbi Khazri, Miguel Trauco or even Assane Dioussé.
A balancing act that few coaches would have succeeded in assuming.