FC Nantes - The Rebellious Straight A Student

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NANTES SPLASH THE CASH



FC Nantes has finally strengthened their side following the departures of Serge Gakpe and Vincent Bessat with none other than six new signings.

Christian Karembeu perfectly timed the bombshell to reveal the signings of Derk Boerrigter, Jordi Gomez, Inigo Perez, Pirolito, Frederic Bulot and Ergys Kace for a total of £9.2 million.



Amongst the signings, one that has surprised fans is Boerrigter who before signing for £2.7m was a fringe player at Ajax.



Spaniards Gomez and Perez were also welcomed with happiness from the Nantes faithful as ’Les Canaris’ add to their depleted midfield.

However there were many eyebrows raised with the signings of young Albanian central midfielder Kace as well as Angolan centre half Pirolito.



Kace made just two appearances for Greek side PAOK whereas Pirolito, who has been linked with Nantes before, has struggled to get into the Angolan national team since August.

Karembeu however was very relaxed with all his new signings and remained confident that all would become a success for the Western club.



“The signings of Boerrigter, Gomez and Bulot speak for itself when you look at the fans' reaction.

“Inigo Perez was a sporadic player at Athletic Bilbao and I’m very happy to have gotten him too for what I believe to be less than his valuation.

“I know many will be sceptical over the signings of Pirolito and Kace but they add depth to the squad and have great potential. Their talents will be much appreciated here.”

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DESAILLY RETURNS HOME



Marcel Desailly has returned to Nantes following 21 years.

The 1998 World Cup winner has teamed up once again with former team mate Christian Karembeu to become a coach at ‘Les Canaris’.

A fan favourite to many, Desailly represented Nantes 162 times from 1986-92 scoring 5 goals before moving to Marseille for the 1992/93 campaign.

Karembeu has said he’s delighted to welcome back a club great and someone he considers to be a “brother”.

NANTES SNATCH WONDERKID



FC Nantes has sensationally agreed terms with Auxerre forward Yaya Sanogo.

The Frenchman has penned down at deal with the western club until 2018 for a reported £14,000 a week and will join at the end of the season for free.

Sanogo who is known for his aerial ability had been chased by the likes of Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen but decided to turn both clubs down in order to stay in France.

Karembeu is delighted to have signed such a highly rated player.

“I’m very surprised to have gotten Yaya. I didn’t feel we could in a million years compete with top sides in other divisions but we obviously appealed to him and I thank God we did so too.

“When I look at the future stars of French football, I look at Lacazette, Pogba, Niang and Eysseric. These are players of top calibre already playing top flight football consistently. Sanogo is exactly that type of player and hopefully we can deliver that to him next season.

“He has a huge future ahead of him and with patience and hard work can become a leading striker in Europe. I’m ecstatic we have snapped him up and cannot wait to work with him.

Sanogo has played a total of 10 games this season for Auxerre, scoring 4 in the process. [/center}

MORE FOR NANTES



FC Nantes continues to add to their side after the signing of Loic Poujol from Sochaux.

Poujol, who at the age of 23 can play as a defensive midfielder or centre back, joins the Ligue 2 team for £975,000.

Nantes may not be finished yet, with the possibility of an audacious bid for Chelsea’s Florent Malouda buzzing across social networks.

January 2013 PART 2


FC Nantes 1 – 0 Nimes Olympique
Veretout (16) Cissokho RED (28)

Stade Lavallois 3 – 2 FC Nantes
Gimbert (17) Talmont (30) Viale (90+2) – Djordjevic (88, 90)

FC Nantes 3 – 0 Tours
Djordjevic (15, 20, 81)

Ligue 2 Table



Player of the Month



Filip Djordjevic
(Our Star Man – ALWAYS!)

Karembeu’s Verdict – “The consistency isn’t there yet and that worries me a little but we’ve signed some new players now. We need them to settle and kick on from there. Pleased to have scrambled back to first.”