Lihadji, an isolated case at OM? – Around OM

The episode Isaac Lihadji, who preferred to go to the highest bidder rather than sign in his training club, will have spoken a lot to OM and the training center. In an article published on the subject, Eurosport wonders about the state of mind of these young players attracted by outside sirens. Olivier Januzzi, OM U18 R1 coach this season, points out: “The entourage of young players has changed so much. If Lihadji remains an isolated case in OM, it still corresponds to a trend that is not specific to Marseille, I think. All the young people in the center dream of wearing the OM jersey but there are so many requests … There are still kids who are in a positive logic, where the entourage can channel. But the era is for individualism. And, sometimes, even reasonable families can be alert to outside sirens. It creates an environment that is difficult to control. “

It is not for nothing that those who succeed in OM are those who are well surrounded in their family environment, as Boubacar Kamara, Maxime Lopez and more recently Lucas Perrin or Marley Aké. And beyond the entourage (family, friends, but also agent …), there is the player’s desire to wear the OM jersey one day, even more for the Marseillais. Julien Fabri, now goalkeeper at Châteauroux in Ligue 2, explains in the articleEurosport that as a Marseille native, everyone’s dream at the training center was to explode at OM, and not elsewhere. And to conclude by implying that deep down, this should also be the case for Lihadji: “I still think that he, his childhood dream was to play at the Vélodrome, and to make the Vélodrome sing.”

Also read: Why it’s harder for Marseille to succeed at OM

This is why OM are quick to offer pro contracts to the most promising young people in the training center, even though some are still only under an aspiring contract, therefore skipping the intern contract box, the usual one before pro contract. Among the players who were last week offered a pro contract by OM, several are in this case: Richecarde Richard (defender, 2002), Jorès Rahou (attacker, 2003), Ugo Bertelli (mid 2003), Cheick Souaré (middle, 2002), Aaron Kamardin (defender, 2002) and Yacine Ressa (attacker, 2001). As noted in last Thursday’s Talk Show, Bastien Cordoléani, our youth specialist at OM, this is good news: “I know that for Souaré and Bertelli, OM wanted to keep them. You have to lock them, we have good elements, we might as well keep them and not be bitten. “

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