Now far from football, Yoann Gourcuff does not have good memories of August 23. Just 13 years ago, the Breton joined Olympique Lyonnais. The beginning of the end for the former Milanese.
The summer of 2010 essentially brings back bad memories for Yoann Gourcuff. Primarily because of the World Cup in South Africa. Selected by Raymond Domenech, the native of Ploemeur had reluctantly taken part in the Knysna fiasco. In the process, the midfielder decided to leave Bordeaux to join Olympique Lyonnais. A departure at the initiative of the Breton.
Worried about not competing in the Champions League, Yoann Gourcuff has indeed demanded his transfer to Bordeaux leaders. A breach in which Jean-Michel Aulas, eager to find Juninho’s successor, left a year earlier. A year also after signing for four seasons with the Girondins after a year on loan that became legendary, the playmaker signs with OL for 22 million euros excluding bonuses. In total, the Gones do not hesitate to pay 26 million euros, which then makes him the third most expensive player in Ligue 1.
Yoann Gourcuff is however coming out of a complicated season with the club with the scapular, marked by several physical glitches. Injuries that will also punctuate his passage between the Rhône and the Saône. On his arrival, Jean-Michel Aulas is however ecstatic and sees things in a big way three months after the first semi-final of the Champions League disputed by his club. “The investment in Yoann is a medium and long-term investment which primarily aims to try to win the Champions League in the period that remains before the construction of the stadium”he explains.
And to mark the occasion, JMA decides to open Gerland, where more than 15,000 spectators flock to the presentation of the messiah and the other summer recruits. A reception with great fanfare badly experienced by the person concerned. “It wasn’t really me, it doesn’t look like me. I no longer endured things, I didn’t choose for it to happen like that. Of course, I would have preferred it to be more discreet and to correspond to who I am. It bothers me more than it gives me pleasure to be overexposed”he confided several years after his departure to West France.
This first frustration would call for others. The fault of the injuries that would follow and earned him to play less than 50% of OL matches. With quite modest statistics: 19 goals and 29 assists in five years. “The expectation was certainly too great. I am a player who fits into a collective, while perhaps I was expected to solve problems. I did what I could, I gave it my all. There was an environment that was not conducive, he explained in the columns of the Breton daily. Lyon is a great club, with a great president, even if we sometimes disagreed. »
After striving for five years to protect his player, Jean-Michel Aulas had shared this acknowledgment of failure just ten days after his departure. “I played the role of the president who believes in the man and in the footballer. It is an acknowledgment of failure on sports performance and on the relationship, it has often only been in one direction, he had regretted at the microphone of RMC. For me, it is a personal failure and above all a relational one. I supported a boy with all my might. My frustrations say perhaps more than attacks that would not take place. I have had other failures before. »
