This is the other reality of the transfer window. Far from the players who snatch millions of dollars on the transfer market or those, voluntarily waiting for the end of their contract, who use their reputation to negotiate huge signing bonuses, other less known footballers , are facing difficulties, aggravated by the coronavirus crisis.
This situation concerns both young people from training centers, who had an aspiring or trainee contract, and professionals registered with Pôle emploi. The former represent a cohort of hopefuls aged 18 to 20, who have all learned, in complete confinement, that they will not be kept by their club on June 30. The National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) has counted between 100 and 120 this season.
These ex-aspirants and these ex-interns live a funny year. “Like the 2020 graduates, we are unlucky. It is more difficult at this time to bounce back when you are not kept by a training center. We must keep hope ”, confides Zacharie Iscaye, 19, to whom Olympique de Marseille announced two months ago that he would not sign his first professional contract.
Relaunch in your home club
In the last year of his internship contract, this training side was evolving with the reserve without having had the opportunity to join the pro group. The health situation deprived him of the possibility of carrying out tests in other clubs of Ligue 1, Ligue 2 or National 1. To bounce back, it was on his agent, Frédéric Guerra, that he had to more than ever count. The latter, who takes care of several players in the same case, confirms: “Because of the Covid-19, they were unable to show themselves. I couldn’t tell them: “Go to Le Havre or Troyes for a try.” Usually, they can bounce off one-year contracts in Ligue 2 reserves… ”
Uncommonly enrolled in a solid school curriculum, these young adults must decide whether to persevere or to give up their hopes for a professional career. “We can never tell them enough that the double project is important. They can resume studies and return to the club of origin of their region in N1, N2 or N3. They can enter the professional world later. ”, advises Philippe Lafon, Director General of the UNFP. Fired from the Lille training center in 1998, a certain Franck Ribéry followed this path, relaunching himself in Boulogne-sur-Mer, his hometown.
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