When Leonardo was appointed sporting director of Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2011, Mathieu Bodmer had already spent a season in the colors of the capital club. Although he is not a “QSI” player, the midfielder played 41 matches during PSG's first year under the Qatari flag.
Things got tougher during the 2012-2013 financial year. The Rouge et Bleu are having an ultra-impressive summer transfer window, with recruits such as Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimović to name but a few. Carlo Ancelotti only used the Évreux native seven times during the first part of this season.
The tension then rises a notch between Mathieu Bodmer and Leonardo. “We didn’t love each other. During the winter transfer window, we argued about an aborted transfer. I have an offer in China, and he says to me: 'No, you don't move.' Then the transfer window begins. After two weeks, he came to see me and said: 'Do you still have the thing in China? Maybe it would be good for you to leave. Except that the offer no longer existed…”he recalled during an interview given to the YouTube channel “Histoires de Football”.
Leonardo-Bodmer, the clash
The one who is now sports director of Le Havre will then have a knee-jerk reaction: “Already we weren't friends at the start, now it clashes even more. And then one day, we insult each other. It's me who insults him a little more. I am summoned by Nasser al-Khelaïfi, because I had the good idea in addition to insulting Leonardo in front of the Emir of Qatar. I was then told that I had to leave very quickly.”
Mathieu Bodmer was then loaned to AS Saint-Étienne, without a purchase option. Returning to the capital at the end of the season, Laurent Blanc did not retain him and the player trained in Caen joined OGC Nice as a joker.
