Former emblematic president of the Racing Club de Lens, Gervais Martel was very close to attracting legends of French football.
Through his good nature, his longevity, his charisma and his strong temperament, Gervais Martel remains the most emblematic character of the Racing Club de Lens. The leader embodied the Sang et Or for almost three decades, notably leading his long-time club to a French championship title in 1998.
The former president of RC Lens looked back on his twenty-nine-year mandate in a book entitled There’s nothing wrong (En Exergue editions). The opportunity for the current consultant of La Chaîne L’Équipe to share some juicy anecdotes about his experience. Because Lens, like other strongholds of French football, was very close to attracting some big names in world football.
Why Mbappé didn’t come to Lens
More than ten years ago, a certain Kylian Mbappé caught the eye of Marc Westerloppe, then a recruiter within the Artesian club. The Bondy prodigy and his family had given their approval to join the Lens academy, but the club’s relegation to Ligue 2 derailed the deal. Mbappé was already a well-identified prospect, and the competition was tough.
“He signed thanks to Marc Westerloppe, who was my recruiter and told me it was a phenomenon, explained Gervais Martel in an interview with Sport365.fr. He was recruited with a non-solicitation contract so that he could sign with a professional club. It was done. 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…”.
Gervais Martel: “We cannot redo history”
Kylian Mbappé is not the only influential personality in French football to have been approached by Racing. Didier Deschamps, his coach for the French team, was also in Gervais Martel’s little papers a few years earlier. It was in 2007, at the dawn of a season that began under the tutelage of Guy Roux, and ended with another fatal relegation. “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 agreement to Guy Roux.”
Gervais Martel assures us : “We cannot redo history…”. The big story, no. But the Racing Club de Lens has not finished cultivating its legend with its little stories.
