He knew he was expected on the subject and the press conference necessarily revolved around the arrival of Benjamin Mendy at FC Lorient. This Friday, Régis Le Bris, who shares the same agent as the 2018 world champion, said more about the contours of a movement that surprised many, whether in Brittany or in the world of football. Found not guilty of rape, the 29-year-old left-back, who was no longer under contract with Manchester City since the start of the charges, signed up for two seasons with the Hakes. His new coach explained why.
“We laid the foundations where we tell ourselves that the compatibility exists and that can be something on which we can work, advances Le Bris, who had put forward the idea of leaving Lorient this summer, to join Nice. Everyone then matured this discussion on their side and because there were many possibilities for a footballer of this level. We got back in touch at the start of the week to tell each other that we wanted to build something. We ended up on Tuesday at the end of the day, very late, for an official presentation on Wednesday. »
Asked about the physical condition of the former Monegasque and Marseillais, Le Bris was clear: “He is 29 years old, he has a career behind him. Very clearly there is reconditioning work. Even though he’s maintained for those two years, it’s not the same as being on a football pitch and rehearsing high-intensity efforts. It will take at least six to eight weeks to properly lay the foundation. Then it will depend on the evolution because he is a top athlete. The will is there and it is up to us the staff to slow him down to allow him to build the foundations well and not so that he performs quickly enough, I think he is really capable of performing quickly, but who could suffer from it quite quickly in the months that will follow on the logical decompression. We must have patience. »
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Relaunched on Benjamin Mendy’s business card and the possibility of attracting, despite the context, a player of this caliber in a club like Lorient, the technician recognized the opportunity to make a move on the transfer market. “We said to ourselves why not even if it seemed very far away because of the status of the player, his experience and what Lorient is today. But in the end the rapprochement was able to take place so we are very satisfied. That said, the environment we offer becomes interesting, including for this category of players. »
In his exchange with the media, Régis Le Bris also, without saying too much, revealed the two-hour communication by videoconference with the French international before recruiting him. “For us, it’s very interesting. I wouldn’t go into the smallest details where it happened, but there was the acquittal that happened. We were still looking for this position, and I had a video meeting with him the weekend when we played against Concarneau. Two hours that told me a lot about the player’s personality. He is a character like many footballers in this category that we watch on television, I had not had the opportunity to meet him before. The feeling very quickly passed on the connection and the compatibility that we can have with what is done at the club. It is above all a lot of humility, above all a passion for football, above all the desire to enter into a collective project, the desire to build oneself on a daily basis to become the best footballer possible. »
On the state of mind of the player, the right words rain. “He is cheerful and exudes a lot of enthusiasm. And at the same time he has a lot of humility. »
