French Football Weekly: we will start this interview by retracing your career path. You spent six years at FC Nantes (2015-2021). How did you get into this club?
Batista Mendy: I was in my amateur club, the SNAF (Saint-Nazaire Atlantique Fotball, editor’s note), I often made departmental league selections. I got noticed by FC Nantes. I went to do several training sessions on Wednesdays. Afterwards, I did an internship and that’s when they recruited me. It was Stéphane Guédon (the FCN recruiter for the football school, editor’s note) who brought me here. I signed pro in 2018. It went quickly. When I arrived at FC Nantes, it was during the 2015-2016 season, I had signed for three years as a midshipman. During my first year in Nantes, I joined the French U16 team. Afterwards, I was regularly called up to U16, U17 and U19 and then I signed pro.
French Football Weekly: do you still follow FCN news?
BM: less and less. I follow them, but less and less.
French Football Weekly: are you surprised to see them struggling?
BM: FC Nantes is a historic club, but in recent years, it has been more complicated. It’s changed compared to before…
French Football Weekly: we have often praised the merits of the Nantes team, but the lack of confidence placed in young people for years has not gone unnoticed. What is your point of view?
BM: before, that was the philosophy of the club, young people. When I was there, that wasn’t really the philosophy. Young people didn’t play much professionally. There were very, very, very few of us. There, I see that they now trust young people, but when I was there, they didn’t trust young people that much.
French Football Weekly: what were the feelings of young people in your time?
BM: when you’re young, you’re impatient. When you see all that, when you see other players of your generation playing professionally in other clubs, you say to yourself: “I have to get out of here to play professionally”. In your head, you don’t necessarily want to stay and play in reserve or in U19. You want to take a step forward. We play football to play professionally. In your head, you want to go and play pro. In my generation, I had Aurélien Tchouameni, Amine Gouiri with me in the selection. In the French team, there are many who were already starting to play professionally.
French Football Weekly: you have often been announced as one of the great talents of the FCN training center. But which other young people, who played with you, impressed you?
BM: in my generation, there is especially one with whom I played, Mathis Thévenin (25 years old today, midfielder). Very strong. I’m still in contact with him, but he stopped there. He had injuries and he was fed up.
French Football Weekly: then, you find yourself free from any contract and you go to Angers. Was it hard to leave Nantes?
BM: Nantes wanted to extend me, but as I wasn’t playing, even with the pros, I told myself that I didn’t want to extend. For a long time, I didn’t play. Even with the reserve, I didn’t play, I just did training. On weekends, I didn’t play, but that’s how it is, Nantes remains my training club despite everything.
French Football Weekly: it’s hard to say that you lost three years of your career within your training club. They weren’t fair to you?
BM: That’s not it, I was just training. The fact that they didn’t make me play remains a management choice. But I’m a little late. That’s why I refused to extend. I preferred to wait, I took it upon myself. I waited until I was free to really start my professional career.
French Football Weekly: it’s 2021 and you now find yourself at SCO Angers.
BM: Angers, frankly super good. I really liked the club. They don’t have this problem with young people. If you’re good, you play. The two years I spent there were great years. It was Gérald Baticle who called me to bring me to Angers. I liked his speech. He already followed me when he was in Lyon. When he became head coach, he called me and I immediately felt that he was counting on me. My first match was against Lyon, when we won 3-0.
Mendy preferred La Liga to Ligue 1
French Football Weekly: after two years at SCO, you are moving to Trabzonspor in 2023. Why the choice of abroad?
BM: the transfer was another step for my career, a springboard. I discussed and analyzed a lot before going there. It went pretty well. We made the Turkish Cup final, we finished third in the championship, qualified for the Europa League.
French Football Weekly: did you have any other options than Turkey?
BM: I was going to sign for Celta, but on the last day of the transfer window, it didn’t happen at the very last moment. I was at the club, I had packed my bags. As we were relegated to League 2, I wanted a first division club so I made the decision to go to Trabzonspor.
French Football Weekly: in Trabzon, you played a lot during your two years (64 league matches) and you made the Turkish Cup final. Why did you choose to leave?
BM: when a club like Sevilla comes… Plus, it’s La Liga. After my two years at Trabszonspor, I wanted to return to one of the big European championships. I had requests from Spanish and Italian clubs but also French ones, including Nice. There was an opportunity with Espanyol Barcelona, but it ultimately couldn’t happen. Afterwards, I had the choice between Ligue 1 and La Liga and I chose the Spanish championship. I already knew L1, I wanted to discover something else. My agent and my family then did what was necessary to make it happen. And then Sevilla had been following me for more than two years, there had already been discussions with those around me when I was still playing in Angers.
French Football Weekly: today, you are a hit with Sevilla. You don’t regret your choice, I imagine. What do you like most about La Liga?
BM: in Spain, people play football, they play to attack, to score. It attacks a lot. This is really the ball. That’s what I like. The difference between the Super Lig and Ligue 1 is that it is less tactical in Türkiye and towards the end of the match, it goes a bit in all directions. That’s why there are a lot of goals. I really wanted to return to the top 5 in Europe, to return to a championship where things play well. It was complicated to leave Trabzonspor. It happened on the last day of the transfer window. I went out around 1 a.m., I talked a lot with the president to tell him that I wanted to go. When I arrived, we agreed to let me leave after two years, if a top club arrived. My goal was really to come back to Europe. I enjoyed my stay in Trabzon, but I wanted to go back.
French Football Weekly: this season, you played and won 4-1 against Barça last October. How does it feel to slap the reigning champion like this?
BM: These are matches that we have dreamed of playing since we were little, but it was really without pressure. It’s a match for us. He’s the great champion, but he’s still humans like us. We approached the match with confidence and it showed, I think. I approached the match as I do others. I didn’t change my habits because it was Barça.
French Football Weekly: relieved not to see Lamine Yamal opposite (the Spaniard was injured)?
BM: we play against Barça. With or without Yamal, the match will happen. But of course it would have been good for him to be there, because what I want is to face the best, always.
“If I went on loan to Seville, it was to stay”
French Football Weekly: on the other hand, things went less well against Real Madrid (2-0 defeat). What does it feel like to have Mbappé in front of you?
BM: it’s the same as with Barça. In my head, I must not change the way I do things. I’m not going to put more pressure on myself because it was Real Madrid.
French Football Weekly: in Seville, you rub shoulders with Alexis Sanchez. Does he give you any advice?
BM: Alexis talks a lot with everyone. He passes on his experience to us, he helps young people a lot.
French Football Weekly: on the other hand, there is another Frenchman for whom things are not going very well, it is Tanguy Nianzou. Do you talk to him a little? How is he?
BM: I’m with Tanguy a lot at the club. He’s fine, he’s coming back. Normally, he will be there for the next matches. Physically, he is good, he trains well.
French Football Weekly: today, you are loaned to Sevilla. What are your plans for the future? Do you hope to stay in Andalusia?
BM: We haven’t spoken with Trabzonspor yet, but everyone knows that if I went on loan to Seville, it was to stay. I like it in Spain, I like the club, the championship. We’ll see what happens at the end of the season. It is a loan with a purchase option of €7 million. My agent and my family have already spoken with Sevilla, we told them that I wanted to stay, to write my story here. I’m in Seville, I’m focusing on the field to do my best and perform well. Afterwards, you never know what the future will hold. The selection? It’s something I have in the back of my mind. But for now, I’m focused here, trying to raise my level from match to match. To increase your chances of being called up, you have to perform well in La Liga. So I work hard every day to perform well and be at the top, because every player dreams of the national team.
