Jocelyn Gourvennec will not stay very long at FC Nantes. However, if the results did not live up to expectations, with the Canaries still flirting with the relegation zone, the short-lived FCN coach can boast of having been the first to really give Nathan Zeze a chance. Quickly, the 52-year-old French technician believed in the qualities of this young 18-year-old defender, full of qualities and with a reading of the game, a knowledge of positioning and a maturity rare at his age.
The first player under the age of 19 to make so many starts in Ligue 1 since a certain Mickael Landreau, Zeze wasted no time. “He is a player who learns very quickly. As soon as we give him instructions or advice, as soon as we give him feedback, he integrates it and applies it straight away. It's rare. That makes him a player who, finally at the age of 18, he plays almost like an old hand”, described Jocelyn Gourvennec last February while he was still in office. The latter who launched and accompanied Jules Koundé and Aurélien Tchouaméni at the same ages while he was coach of Bordeaux knows something about this.
Thierry Henry follows him…
If he has a good margin for improvement, the first full-scale tests against Kylian Mbappé's PSG and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's OM confirmed the ability of this powerful and athletic central defender (1m90) to increase his level and augurs good things for the future under the orders of Antoine Kombouaré who is hard to imagine leaving aside. With 10 possible starts in as many matches, Nathan Zeze is well placed on the short list of many top L1 clubs, but also abroad and particularly in England.
According to our information, Leicester and Aston Villa, Stuttgart and French clubs are keeping a close eye on one of the most promising players of his generation and who was also pre-selected by Thierry Henry in a list of players likely to participate in the Olympic Games 2024. Enough to augur a summer that is to say the least hectic, both on a sporting level and in terms of transfer window for the number 44 of FC Nantes…
