Pierre Issa: “Nelson Mandela and Rolland Courbis, that was something!”
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His CSC against France in 1998 which made his fame, his eventful passage at the Olympique de Marseille, his bide in England, his zero matches with Chelsea, the shouts of Rolland Courbis, his meetings with Nelson Mandela … Pierre Issa , a former defender of the first division and now an agent, immerses himself in the memory machine.
Twelve years since you hung up your crampons … Did it go quickly?
Super fast! Like everything, eh. When I see my daughters growing up …
“A network stretches quickly and it’s important. When you attend seminars with guys like Youri Djorkaeff or Maxwell, you get to know quite a bit.”
Unlike other retired players, you haven’t had any backlash. Because you went straight to the agent, right?
Yes. When I was at the end of my career, I helped a few friends with their transfer. And then, I had already found myself unemployed when I came back from Lebanon. That was the trigger, I realized that the agents calling me were not very serious and that I had to fend for myself to make it more efficient. So I wanted to help those who needed a club, and it started like that …
You started with Patrick Blondeau, right?
Not really. Patrick, he’s a friend. We collaborated on a few files, but we were not partners. It had its own structure, of which I was not part.
It seems that you participated in the visit of Robert Pirès to Aston Villa, from Villarreal …
Yeah, I did give Robert a helping hand at the time. We were quite close, we still are. It was one of my first big shots, so to speak!
What is your role in this kind of situation?
Establishing contact by acting as an intermediary, above all, and having an eye on contracts.
“The France-South Africa CSCs are part of my history, and that doesn’t bother me.”
What are the strengths that have you
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