Iconic president of RC Lens for almost thirty years, Gervais Martel reveals that he was very close to signing Kylian Mbappé and Didier Deschamps.
The interview has become cult. On May 21, 2016, before the Gambardella Cup final between Monaco and Lens, Daniel Lauclair intercepted in the corridors of the Stade de France a young player whom he presented as being « Taylor Moore »a pure product of “Lensoise training”. A blunder immediately corrected by his Monegasque interlocutor, which shortly after became a real phenomenon. His (real) name: Kylian Mbappé. But it was a close call for the France Télévisions journalist to get the right version of the story.
In his book entitled There’s nothing wrong (Editions En Exergue), in which he looks back on his twenty-nine years as president of Sang et Or, Gervais Martel reveals having almost recruited the former Bondy prodigy. It was at the end of the 2010-2011 season, “Kyky” was not yet 13 years old. “He signed thanks to Marc Westerloppe, who was my recruiter and told me it was a phenomenon, he confides in an interview given to Sport365.fr. He was recruited with a non-solicitation contract so that he could sign with a professional club. It was done. »
Guy Roux preferred to Didier Deschamps
“Unfortunately, we went down to the second division that year. And his father, Wilfrid, called me saying: ‘Mr. Martel, I can’t put my kid with you, you are in the second division. I’ll put it somewhere else.’ This is why Kylian Mbappé did not come. Because we came back down”, remembers the former boss of the RCL, who also came close to enlisting another world champion, first as a player then as a coach. A certain Didier Deschamps…
The story this time dates back to 2007, the year when Guy Roux finally inherited the position. Without much success since he only spent seven matches on the bench of the northern club (1 victory, 4 draws, 2 defeats). “Both were in the running. Guy Roux gave me his answer first and I saw Didier Deschamps a second or third time in the evening, says Gervais Martel. It’s like that. I am a person of my word. I told Didier that I had given my consent to Guy Roux. We cannot redo history. » She could have been completely crazy.
#GervaisMartel goes to confession, with humor and tenderness. His autobiography can be read from this Friday, November 3. Wow! @RCLens @EnExergue pic.twitter.com/yWW4Fj4bJh
— Bernard Lions (@BernardLions) November 2, 2023
2023-11-23 19:03:23
#Mbappé #Deschamps #Lens #incredible #story
