In part two of our exclusive and rare interview with OM sporting director José Anigo, he looks at the mercato and Les Bleus...
When the mercato calms down a little, will OM look to extend the contracts of current players such as Taiwo, Kaboré and Valbuena…
Valbuena has a contract and identifies with the club and doesn’t want to leave. Talks have already started with Kaboré, and we’re not far from an agreement. As for André Ayew, we’re waiting for him to come back to talk with him. He sent last season at Avignon on loan and might have thought the club wasn’t watching him, but that’s not the case. We watched him several times and if he hadn’t gone out on loan he wouldn’t have played as much. The move saw him improve. Now he’s returning to the squad because the coach wants him back and we’ll be looking to extend his current deal., but not at any costs because he’s still a young player. With Taiwo, it’s a little more complicated. There are concrete offers from overseas clubs. He has one year left on his contract and the coach wants him to stay. Either he extends his deal with us or he leaves for free in 12 months, but knowing Taye and his agents, I can’t see him signing a new deal at the moment.
Finally about the Mercato, can you reassure the supporters that things are going to happen soon?
We’ve spoken about Alou Diarra and he’s clearly the club and the coach’s priority. If everyone is in agreement, it will happen. Then we’ll also take out time to sign the right striker for the club. Loads of names are cited in the press but most of them are not our targets at all.
Your job is all about working with a football team. Were you shocked by what happened with Les Bleus in South Africa?
I was on the outside looking in although I spoke a little with Mathieu (Valbuena) on the phone. What shocks me the most is that the squad never had a guide. I’m not only talking about the coach but also the players, the directors, the president, the managers... No-one was there to say ‘Stop’ when they needed to, there was no control, and that’s dangerous. I was really hurting because have Spanish roots, but I’m French – I was born here, I live here. It’s a shame that everything the 1998 squad did for French football has disappeared. When we try and talk transfers with English or Italian clubs now... the French players lost a lot of credibility.
It penalises the players and the clubs.
