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Premier League side Liverpool made contact with 20-year-old Dutch central defender Sven Botman’s agent in November about a possible future transfer, according to our colleagues at Foot Mercato.

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LFC are without Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk for an extended period of time and could move to sign a central defender next month. Talks however have not advanced past the stage of simple contact, according to sources contacted by Get French Football News.

Inter Milan have also made initial enquiries for the ex-Ajax man. LOSC are telling clubs that they want €50m in order to sell Botman, but owing to the very public nature of their recent financial disarray, it seems probable that Les Dogues would be willing to sell the player for €30m, which would triple the fee that they paid just 6 months ago for him: €10m.

Speaking in an interview with Nemzeti Sport, German tactician and ex-PSG boss Thomas Tuchel’s assistant Zsolt Löw has given his side of the story after he and the rest of the German’s staff were fired on Christmas Eve.

“We were surprised because on the 23rd December, after winning a match 4-0 against Strasbourg, Leonardo, brought us together to say that the club was no longer counting on Thomas for the future. After having to face considerable difficulties in 2020, after achieving historic success with PSG, after going through the group stage of the Champions’ League in autumn, and we were in full swing in the league, it made the decision very difficult to understand. And the fact that we were impacted by numerous injuries throughout the season, and had to come up against COVID-19. I think that it was a great professional success to finish the year the way we did. We overperformed, that is the truth.”

“We were shocked by the announcement. The summer window did not go as we wanted, the main players who left after the Final 8 were not correctly replaced. That created tensions between certain board members and the staff, as well as with the Sporting Director who was espousing management principles that were different to that of the coach. I don’t want to delve into the details. They had different ideas in a number of domains, and the difference in viewpoint accrued over time. This led to Leonardo deciding to create a future with a different staff. To be honest this situation could not have lasted. It was better to stop now, nearly at the summit, to say goodbye with a great majority of wonderful memories. Not to have followed Thomas would have gone against my values. Before, I had the opportunity to take the place of managers at Salzburg and Leipzig, and I did not take those opportunities. When I fight alongside someone, it is for better or worse.”

“The professional relationship between Thomas and I is extremely tight, he keeps his word, he counts on me, that is why I feel part of the successes. And the failures too. I arrived at PSG upon his call 2.5 years ago, I was alongside him at all times.”

On Nasser Al Khelaifi:

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He appreciates our work and our results. However, you have to also note that when he brought Leonardo back to PSG, he gave him free rein, so from a professional standpoint, it was above all the Sporting Director who decided. The president sent two messages in recent days, writing kind words. He thanked us for what we had done for the club, underlining the fact that we achieved historic success… At this level in football, deep human relationships are quite rare. Clubs like PSG are exposed to that, colossal sums are spent, things boom quickly. Sporting success is paramount, close human relationships are rarely achieved. The stars live in a bubble, as closed off to people as possible, to protect their private life. Why do I say all that? Because one of our biggest successes was that the players felt over the course of time that we were professionally and on a human side capable of winning titles with them. Over the course of two and a half years, we tried to remain human in all circumstances, we found the right balance. 

We were setting the course, we treated the players like partners, they could talk to us anytime, on anything. Give and receive. I think that a group and a unit, unprecedented at PSG, has emerged. And yes, from Kylian Mbappé to Marco Verratti to Presnel Kimpembe or Abdou Diallo, almost all of them have sent me a message. Reading the messages, I realised that those two and a half years made sense. In addition to being successful, feelings developed. It really helped us come to terms with what happened to us on December 23rd/24th. We have won the respect of the players. We couldn’t have gotten more than that. 

Téléfoot Chaine report that Ligue 2 side Châteauroux are in pole position to land Polish international goalkeeper Marcin Bulka on loan until the end of the season from Ligue 1 leaders PSG.

The 21-year-old joined FC Cartagena on loan in summer, in an arrangement which was initially accepted to run until the end of the 2020/21 campaign but one that is now going to be cut short.

In Germany, Wolfsburg would like to bring Bulka in as a substitute option, but the Polish goalkeeper wants to move to Ligue 2 and play.

The strong relationship between PSG and key Châteauroux decision-makers, Benoît Cauet and Jérôme Leroy, is expected to have been essential in getting this deal done.

Bulka is able to play for another team this campaign owing to the exceptional ruling that FIFA introduced in June 2020 that allows for player for this season only to represent 3 clubs rather than the usual rule of two owing to the COVID-19-induced economic crisis in football.

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Ligue 1 side Marseille on Tuesday confirmed the departure of 26-year-old central midfielder Morgan Sanson to Premier League side Aston Villa in a deal worth around €18m.

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The player passed a medical on Monday in Paris and yesterday signed a 4.5 year contract with Aston Villa.

Sanson posted a message of thanks to the French club on social media on Tuesday night:

“4 years… Life moves fast, a career moves very fast. The end of an incredible and unforgettable adventure here in the city of football. I arrived in Marseille, a young guy at 22, I am leaving as the father of a family. This club has made me grow on the sporting and the human sides. Thanks to OM, such a big club that it is, renowned across the world for all the moments I have had here, some sometimes tricky situations, difficult moments with periods of crisis… But so many incredible moments, extraordinary and indescribable atmospheres that I will never forget, an unimaginable fervour and immeasurable passion that makes the charm of this club so unique. My thoughts are with all the people who helped me on a daily basis and made my time here better: my teammates, the different sporting and medical staffs, the board, the communication department, people in the administration department, the fans and of course coach AVB. It is with a heavy heart that I tell you goodbye. A page of my life and my career is turning, with the feeling of also having achieved good work and having always given everything for this shirt… Thanks for the hundreds of messages of thanks, love… I did not arrive as a Marseillais but have become one.”

As reported by L’Équipe, Championship side Watford’s attempts to sign French midfielder James Léa-Siliki have hit a stumbling block in that Rennes President Nicolas Holveck does not want to deal with the Hornets until they have made the €8m payment due to the Ligue 1 club for the transfer of Senegalese winger Ismaila Sarr, who the London club bought from Rennes in 2019 for €30m plus bonuses.

Léa-Siliki’s priority is to join the English club, as he views the Championship as a good place to springboard a career in England, but he has been caught in a situation bigger than his own future. SRFC had already accepted a loan with a €4m option to buy bid from Anderlecht for the midfielder, but he is not interested in joining Vincent Kompany’s club. Genoa have also positioned themselves with a virtually identical proposal.

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Watford are trying to convince Holveck to let them do the deal for Léa-Siliki with promises that they will make the delayed Sarr payments between now and the end of the current season. It is currently unclear whether or not this will be enough to convince Rennes to do the deal. SRFC will come to a decision on the matter definitively this weekend.

New interest in “JLS” is appearing all the time, with an unnamed Spanish side making a loan without option to buy proposal for the Frenchman in recent hours.

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Bordeaux have often been forced to take bold decisions, usually in tumultuous circumstances. This was seen in July 2020, when the club were reported to be interested in hiring their former assistant coach, 67-year-old Jean Louis Gasset. This came after reports of then-manager Paolo Sousa looking likely to resign.

However, Get French Football News then reported that Sousa was determined to stay, just weeks after attempting a resignation. As a side effect of this u-turn, was Bordeaux sporting director Eduardo Macia being sacked. This all came in a summer that show Bordeaux spend nothing on transfer fees. When Gasset arrived in late August, the odds were stacked against him.

Bordeaux had finished 12th in the cut-off 2019/20 season, yet expectations were low. They had lost powerful young midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni to AS Monaco. Their top scorer was Jimmy Briand, a 34-year-old striker, who had just mustered 7 in the 2019/20 Ligue 1 season.

Regardless, there were still lots of promising components at Bordeaux. Yacine Adli, Josh Maja, Samuel Kalu and Remi Oudin were considered as one of Ligue 1’s best quartets of young attacking talent. However, under Sousa, all had failed to click.

While Bordeaux were not in the picture for relegation in Get French Football News’ predictions in August 2020, little attention was paid to Les Girondins. Yet Jean Louis Gasset had some plans in store to make a great impact on his new side.

What has Jean Louis Gasset done?

Paulo Sousa operated Bordeaux in a three-at-the-back system in 2019/20. While they generally performed well, finishing just four points off of fifth placed Reims, the football was very stale.

This season, Jean Louis Gasset has reverted Bordeaux to a 4-2-3-1 (And some other 4 at the back shapes). The effects have been huge for Bordeaux on and off the field. It is also easy and interesting to see the thought behind this system change. 

In 2019, the club spent £9m on attacking player Remi Oudin from Stade de Reims. Yet he received less than 500 minutes under Sousa in Ligue 1 in 2019/20. This season though, he has found a home in a free-flowing attack created by Gasset. He is given more space and freedom to float across the pitch.

The decision to switch to a formation with a designated “number 10” was also no doubt done to accommodate Bordeaux’s single summer signing. On his day, 33-year-old Hatem Ben Arfa is one of the most dangerous forwards in the world. On other days, he is a luxury passenger not even PSG could effectively utilise.

When analysing Ben Arfa’s last three spells in French football, it is easy to understand why Gasset has switched to a 4-2-3-1. Ben Arfa flourished at Nice in 2015/16 while playing exclusively as a lone attacking midfielder behind a pair of strikers, scoring 17 goals. At PSG the following year, he struggled to break into the side playing 4-3-3. Then at Rennes in 2018/19, he was once again productive as an attacking midfielder, in a 4-2-3-1. This no doubt helped Gasset choose the system he would pursue.

These two factors, along with the criticism that fans had last season for Paulo Sousa’s style, would help drive the style of football chosen by Gasset to pursue. While Get French Football News wrote a great piece on how Paulo Sousa steadied the Bordeaux ship, fans were still left wanting from players like Maja and Kalu. Gasset would have to win matches in a more convincing and entertaining manner.

Has it worked?

On face value, the differences in Bordeaux’s performances seem small. They finished last season just 10 points clear of the relegation spots. They had a +6 goal difference. In 20/21 they are six points off fifth placed Rennes. They also have a -2 goal difference, conceding 29 goals in 24 matches. The side has just managed to score 27 goals.

Chart shows where Bordeaux league goals have come from 2019/20 compared 2020/21 (Understat)

Yet the manner of these goals, and the manner of the nine victories, have been far brighter than last season’s same number of wins. On matchday two, Jean Louis Gasset proved that Bordeaux had already improved under his management when they beat Angers 0-2 away from home. Bordeaux lost the same fixture last year 3-1. 

Bordeaux were also unlucky to lose away at Lyon recently, when Léo Dubois scored one of the goals of the season in the dying seconds. Lyon had been shut out by a well-organised, defensively astute Bordeaux, but a Les Girondins side that also posed a dangerous threat on the counter attack. 

Rudi Garcia’s men had been undone by simply beautiful football by Bordeaux. 20 year old Yacine Adli intercepted a clearance, drove into the box before laying it to Remi Oudin, who pulled it back for a belting finish for Samuel Kalu to originally make the tie 1-1.

Who has benefitted?

The previously struggling Yacine Adli had churned out another composed performance against Lyon. Last season he continuously and needlessly lost the ball, and he won less than 45% of his tackles.

Yacine Adli 2019/20 (FBREF) – Ligue 1 stats compared to 2020/21

In 2021 though, a well built and more tactically astute Yacine Adli bossed the midfield against Lyon. He even grabbed a goal in Bordeaux’s brilliant 2-2 draw against Adli’s old club, PSG. This is largely down to a positional change – Adli is now playing in a 2-man pivot, allowing him to create from deeper and have his back to goal less.

Remi Oudin has also seen his fortunes transform. He has been one of the key performers in Ligue 1, scoring four goals and assisting four more times. The 24-year-old even has two man of the match awards, given for his performances against Dijon and Lorient.

Samuel Kalu and Ben Arfa are also major actors in the Gasset revolution. Aside from the goal against Lyon, Kalu has scored twice more in Ligue 1 as he looks more confident than ever before. He even assisted Ben Arfa’s winner away at Rennes in November, a marquee victory in the new Gasset era.

Ben Arfa is once again producing goals and assists. His six goal contributions have helped Bordeaux on multiple occasions, as well as his progression of the ball. In fact, no one in all of France has completed more successful dribbles than Hatem Ben Arfa in Ligue 1 this season (3.6 p90). He even recently reached a landmark of 600 career dribbles completed in Ligue 1.

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What Gasset has done is fantastic. While Josh Maja has left for Fulham after once again struggling to make a large impact, Gasset has gotten value out of every other single one of Bordeaux’s talented players. Remi Oudin, Yacine Adli, Samuel Kalu, Toma Basic and Mehdi Zerkhane are all exciting footballers on the young side of 25 and are all experiencing great form. Even last season’s signing from Korea, Hwang Ui-Jo, has 6 league goals plus 2 assists. Jean Louis Gasset looks to have been a masterstroke in the dugout for Bordeaux. It will be interesting to see how the club can grows from this season onwards, and what potential heights it reaches.

A.B.

Ligue 2 title chasers Toulouse on Monday announced the hire of Brendan MacFarlane as the club’s new Head of Recruitment.

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MacFarlane enjoyed major successes as a scout for Championship side Brentford, working on deals including for Neal Maupay, Said Benrahma and others.

He had the following to say upon the announcement:

“It has always been a dream for me to work at the heart of a French club and I am very happy that Toulouse offered me this opportunity. The project that Toulouse are embarking upon is truly interesting and I hope to help it become one of the best clubs in terms recruitment. The work done in recent months is already very good and the aim will be to continue to adopt an intelligent recruitment strategy. I am coming here to bring my experience and to help Toulouse to perform even better.”

Brendan began his French footballing career with pieces for Get French Football News – read his story here.

PSG have confirmed that Brazilian attacker Neymar will not feature in the Champions’ League Round of 16 2nd leg clash with Barcelona on Wednesday and will continue to recover from a hamstring injury he suffered 5 to 6 weeks ago with an individualised training programme.

Juan Bernat and Moise Kean are also ruled out for the clash, as the Spaniard continues to recover from his ACL injury and the Italian cannot participate owing to a positive COVID-19 test last week.

Alessandro Florenzi and Thilo Kehrer will however both be available for selection for the squad, having sufficiently recovered from their respective minor injuries.

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Speaking in an interview with RMC Sport, Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman admitted his frustration following a 3-2 home loss against PSG.

“PSG were very efficient, we missed our chances. We had a good performance but we will need to try to make as few mistakes as possible at this level. We remain confident, we know what we can do. If we put the goals away in the 2nd leg, I think we will do it. You must not concede 3 goals at home. We are going to give our all in the 2nd leg. Mbappé? This is the top level, he was super effective today. We will have all the necessary motivation, we are going to give everything to win at theirs. It really hurts to lose today at home but we are going to pick ourselves back up for the 2nd leg.” 

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Pierre Hurmic, Mayor of Bordeaux, on Friday announced to media that the mayor’s office was in touch with two potential buyers for the Ligue 1 club after it was announced on Thursday that its owners, King Street, were refusing to put any further money into the club, resulting in Les Girondins being placed under the commercial protection of a specialised court.

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Pierre Hurmic said that local authorities were looking for an owner whose “attachment to the club, the love of football and the territory around the club.”

Today, Rennes owner and French billionaire François Pinault, called on owners of Bordeaux’s most prestigious vineyards, to step up and save the club from administration.

“Like all French people in love with football, the idea that the Girondins de Bordeaux could disappear makes me emotional. As someone from Brittany and the owner of Stade Rennais, for decades I have seen how much the identity of a club and, if possible, its success, is part of the social contract in a region. Associated with Bordeaux life for 30 years, through Château Latour, I think the existence of the legendary Girondins club is important for Bordeaux, its influence, with which all vineyard owners can identify.”

“What is the economic force which, in this region, can give itself the objective of saving the team and developing it? The world of wine and in particular the owners of great vintages. I therefore call on my fellow owners to meet in order to prepare a plan to take over the Girondins. The rules on club ownership prevent me from setting up a plan to take over the Girondins myself, since my group is the sole shareholder of Stade Rennais. On the other hand, I am ready to lend my support to any operation mounted by the vineyard owners and I will do so with enthusiasm.”