Lenny Pintor is one of the players that Laurent Batlles wanted to recruit this summer, like most of the other Saint-Etienne recruits, starting with Dylan Chambost, Jimmy Giraudon and Léo Pétrot, players that the coach of the Greens had already known . Pintor had been on loan to Troyes for two years. And even though he had little participated in Estac’s rise in L1 (3 goals in 2020-21), Batlles had appreciated his qualities. “Lenny, I’ve known him for two seasons in Troyes, he explained. He had crossed paths in March of the second year, unfortunately. He needs time to play, to get tough. He has been paid dearly by a nearby club and is having a hard time assuming this status. He is still learning. He had called me to tell me that he wanted to be part of this project. He wanted to wear this shirt. But this shirt, Pintor has struggled to make it green again since his arrival last August. In 9 games, the former U20 international scored just one goal, from a penalty, in Pau (2-2), and his first assist is still pending.
OL were about to break the contract
At the age of 22, the winger is slow to establish itself. Batlles, however, had him chained to the left piston position, but it proved unconvincing. Little interested in defensive tasks, not very aggressive, not very effective with the ball, in his dribbling, in his passes. And clumsy too. As happened to Sochaux (1-2) when he entered the game, with two big missed opportunities. Before another disappointing performance, this time as a right winger, when he entered the field right at the start of last Saturday’s match against Paris FC (0-2). In short, Pintor’s beginnings were very laborious, like the start of the ASSE season. And we can ask ourselves about the relevance of this choice of having gone to look for him, when he was in difficulty in Lyon, in reserve. According to our information, Lyon’s management was the first to be surprised by the interest of the AXIS, who were considering negotiating an amicable termination of his contract with the player’s agents. The native of Sarcelles no longer had a future with Les Gones where he remained almost Juventus in N2 (3 games, 0 goals). One year after the contract expired, OL was ready to give him a check so as not to have to pay him the year of salary he owed him, after having paid 5 million euros in 2018 for the purchase in Brest. Under these conditions, it goes without saying that the ACE’s interest in the player was received as a boon in the Rhone. And the Lyon leaders even managed to persuade their Saint-Etienne counterparts to keep a percentage in case of resale. The icing on the cake, for them …
to summarise
Lyon’s management was the first surprise of ACE’s interest in Pintor, who was considering negotiating an amicable termination of his contract with the player’s agents. The native of Sarcelles no longer had a future with Les Gones where he remained almost black and white in N2 (3 games, 0 goals) …
