For the first tenure of his career in Ligue 1, Amine Gouiri signed a resounding double on August 23 against Lens. – VALERY HACHE / AFP
- Despite the difficult start of the season for the Niçois (11th in L1), Amine Gouiri did not miss his real first steps in the elite, with 8 goals and 3 assists in 19 games (all competitions).
- At 20, the international Espoirs challenges OL on Saturday (9 p.m.), where he has never been able to win with the first team.
- His former trainer Armand Garrido regrets not having seen him reveal himself in his training club.
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“I have no regrets because I gave everything to Lyon, and here I am making up for lost time. »Like this interview in The team in November, we should not count on the Nice striker Amine Gouiri to find his training club, Saturday (9 p.m.), with a spirit of revenge. The international Espoirs was not yet 18 when he was launched into the professional world with OL, in November 2017 against Montpellier. He then had to go through a long desert crossing of three years, notably marked by a serious left knee injury in 2018, before living the first start of his career in Ligue 1, on August 23 against Lens (2-1) , with the Aiglons.
Result: his first two goals in the pros, with two surgical strikes to the key. “We have already seen these goals so many times from him with our youth teams and the reserve, sighs Vincent, a Lyon supporter very attentive to the talents of the ” formidable academy ”. I was happy for him but it is heartbreaking not to see him succeed in these gestures in L1 with our coat of arms. “
???? Ladies & Gentlemen: Amine Gouiri wishes you a good start to the week ⚽️????⚫️ pic.twitter.com/9JX9ZCzozc
– OGC Nice (@ogcnice) August 24, 2020
A transfer for (only?) 7 million euros
Reference of training at OL for thirty years, Armand Garrido, ensures “not to be at all surprised” by his promising start to the season at the Gym, with 8 goals and 3 assists in 19 matches (all competitions combined) ). “He’s a boy with great potential, who has the level to play in Ligue 1,” says his former coach in U17. Seeing him show his full potential, with more playing time in Nice, is normal and deserved. As a trainer, the contract is therefore fulfilled. “
Is it totally when we know that this 20-year-old striker, often compared to Karim Benzema in the spans of Tola Vologe, more closely follows an Anthony Martial trajectory (who left at 17 years old for AS Monaco), having had to go into exile to reveal himself, after only 292 minutes played (and no goal) in pros in his training club? Armand Garrido shares with many supporters this taste for the unfinished concerning the Lyon history of his ex-protégé, transferred this summer for 7 million euros (plus a 15% incentive on the capital gain of a future transfer) .
Things went very quickly for Amine in Lyon. When you rub shoulders with the professional world from the age of 16, you are impatient at the idea of taking this step. But having to ” go down ” in N2 and in the Youth League, as he has done all the time in Lyon, it is very disturbing for a youngster. I understand the supporters’ regrets about him. I myself always have a small pang in my heart not to see it explode in Lyon, as it had been for Anthony Martial. “
“Not really made for this short-term project with Rudi Garcia”?
To revive in the league, the Aiglons (11th) intend to take advantage of the flight of this talent from Lyon, like so many others before him. Because the Gym is really the historic “good springboard” for young players trained at OL, with an endless list, from Florent Balmont to Alassane Pléa, including Loïc Rémy, Anthony Mounier and Jérémy Pied.
“This Nice team is so technically weak that Amine Gouiri stands out, but that does not necessarily make him a crack, said Nicolas, a Lyon supporter. Seen as our team (3rd) is currently running with Tino Kadewere and Karl Toko Ekambi, it is difficult to prove OL wrong for letting him go. I didn’t see him really suited for this short-term project with Rudi Garcia and his game in rapid transition. “
“A bad message” sent to young people from OL
It is an understatement to say that the Lyon coach did not put his young striker in the best shape last season, with a start in the Coupe de la Ligue against Toulouse, but only one minute granted in Ligue 1 to Metz, as well as a short appearance in troubleshooting in the Champions League in Saint Petersburg, after having played a Youth League half-time… six hours earlier! “Garcia preferred to pull the rope with Moussa Dembélé, who absolutely never breathed despite a long journey in the four competitions, regrets Vincent. But during all this time, Amine has always kept a low profile in Lyon, he has never done an interview to complain about his fate. Before Rudi Garcia, Bruno Genesio and Sylvinho had not bet more on Amine Gouiri.
On this subject, the number 11 of Nice confided in The team : “I heard people say ‘Gouiri has had three coaches, if he doesn’t play, it’s because he must have behavioral problems, he must not work.” Except that we see today that it was unfounded. I think that for a youngster from Lyon, it’s harder to break through now. “The Rémi Garde era indeed seems very far away, even if Maxence Caqueret, Rayan Cherki, Melvin Bard and Sinaly Diomandé have more playing time this season. This is why the Lyon supporter Vincent saw in the management of the Amine Gouiri case “a bad message” sent to the young players of the training center.
“There was a general impatience around him”
“All young people know very well that if even this guy, with exceptional stats in all categories in the French team [45 buts en 52 sélections, des U16 aux Espoirs], and with irreproachable behavior, does not play with the first team, they have no chance of breaking through at OL later. In my opinion, that caused Pierre Kalulu to leave this summer at AC Milan. If a Corentin Tolisso was 19 today, would he have a chance with this OL? “
The question is legitimate, and doubts about Amine Gouiri’s potential have always surrounded him at OL since his knee injury. “It is difficult to assess a young player with little playing time,” says Armand Garrido. The club were okay in letting him go this summer. There was a general impatience around him, and maybe some people at the club didn’t expect it to work so well for him elsewhere in L1. They must be afraid of having striking proof of this at their expense on Saturday.
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