Bafetimbi Gomis talks about his departure from AS Saint-Etienne – Ligue 1 news
The round of 16 of the 2011/2012 Coupe de la Ligue will see archrivals AS Saint-Etienne and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130 battle it out for a place in the last eight of the cup competition at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on October 26, 2011.
However, this won’t be the first and last time the two giants meet eachother. A few days later after the two sides are done sparring in the cup tie; Stade Gerland will see Les Gones host Les Verts in Week 11 of Ligue 1.
The Lyon-Etienne rivalry is considered to be one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in French football and is always a spectacle to watch. The two giants from the Rhone province hate eachother on principle and it’s very rare for a player to leave his current
club for another.
However, in the summer of 2009, Bafetimbi Gomis left Saint-Etienne for Lyon for a fee believed to be in the region of 13 million Euros. Gomis is only the sixth player in French league history to make a switch of that proportion and would be in for a hostile
welcome when he and Lyon players graze the field at Saint-Etienne.
While talking to Onze Mondial, the Lyon top scorer spoke about the reasons behind his departure from the club. Bafetimbi pointed out that he could have left in 2008 as his contract had a release clause of that year in it.
“I returned for practise in 2009 and saw a weakened team. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pascal-Feindouno-c29197, who supplied me all the passes, had left. He gave me a lot of balls and was a strong passer. ASSE no longer gave me the feeling of a club that wanted to hold on to its players. That
is why I had to immediately accept Lyon’s proposal,” said the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 international.
However, Gomis maintains that he had a great ten years at AS Saint-Etienne and though he admits he will have a tough welcome at the club, he will always remember the club for giving him the platform to become a France international.
However, one thing can be certain that Gomis will be ready to spearhead Lyon’s attack when they face the ‘enemy’ on Wednesday and Saturday.
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