Predicting that Kenny Nagera would be the best-off loft player, three months after his departure from PSG, would have been a prophecy. Unwanted in his training club, which had sent him to the closet this summer alongside Julian Draxler, Abdou Diallo and Georginio Wijnaldum, the time to find a new project (he finally terminated his contract on September 5), the young striker 21-year-old finally knew how to feed off this affront to bounce back. Arriving free at the leader of the Luxembourgish championship Differdange during the month of September, the native of Argenteuil is now getting his fill.
Usual starter at the forefront of his club’s attack, sometimes on the side, Nagera has already scored 6 goals and 2 assists in 11 games. A dynamic which greatly benefits his club, unaccustomed to playing the leading roles (Differdange has never yet been champion of Luxembourg). At a press conference, his coach Pedro Resende did not hide his satisfaction with his player in recent weeks: “he doesn’t behave like a former PSG player. He is well integrated and really works hard to be in shape on Sunday. His speed and elimination capacity are real weapons», Analyzes the Portuguese technician, who has always aligned him with his starting line-up since September.
His failures are stored in the box of bad memories
Although he is now finding the right path in Luxembourg, Nagera had nevertheless seen his early career take a turn for the worse. Sold to Bastia during the 21/22 season, the ex-Parisian quickly became unwanted (172 minutes of play in 6 months), which led to the termination of his loan. He finished the season at Avranches, in the National, without ever winning there. Last year, he was able to regain some color with the Lorient reserve, in National 2 (8 goals and 2 assists in 24 matches), before spending three and a half months without competition. But decisive every 109 minutes with his new club this season, the player trained at PSG was able to make a clean sweep of the past to get back on track. Alongside other French speakers like Moussa Suso (ex-Strasbourg), Guillaume Trani, who went through the Nike Academy and Endoume, captain Geoffrey Franzoni, trained at FC Metz, and other players from various French training centers, Nagera didn’t need much time to blend in.
In a team that is doing so well, the 21-year-old striker could quickly find himself playing in Europe. As a reminder, the Luxembourg champion goes directly into the qualifying rounds for the Champions League (Hesperange was eliminated by Bratislava this season for example), while the 2nd and 3rd are transferred to the preliminary rounds of the Europa Conference League. In any case, this visit to Luxembourg could well serve as a springboard for him. Last season, the performances of Rayan Philippe at Hesperange, a player not retained by Dijon in 2021, had a resounding echo in Europe. At the end of a season among the continent’s top scorers, the 23-year-old saw a door open in German D2 with Braunschweig. Nagera was obviously informed.
