2023-05-15 18:15:21
Before joining Torino in Serie A last summer, Frenchman Brian Bayeye trained for three seasons in Serie C. LORIS ROSELLI/NurPhoto via AFP
INVESTIGATION – More and more of them are joining Italy without going through the Ligue 1 box. Explanations.
Mike Maignan, Olivier Giroud, Adrien Rabiot, but also Brandon Soppy, Valentin Gendrey, Brian Bayeye… This season, 29 French people play in Serie A, the first Italian division. A championship which has known delicate moments since its domination of the 1990s, and which regains its splendor this year with the two opposing Milan clubs in the semi-finals of the Champions League (2-0 for Inter in the first leg , half return this Tuesday, at 9 p.m., on Canal + and RMC sport).
The “old” Zlatan Ibrahimovic (41) and Olivier Giroud (36) rub shoulders with many rookies and young people who have chosen to cross the Alps to discover the professional world in Italy. Seven players born after 1is January 2000 thus joined the Italian elite, without even going through Ligue 1. Injured in their adolescence, subjected to too much competition, or forgotten by the first team, these “Blueberries” see Italy as a door to entrance to “adult football”.
“A good gateway to development”
Trained in Torcy, in Seine-et-Marne…
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