Getting out is not easy. It may even be the most complicated thing. Because we often leave too late. Steve Mandanda, he did not want to miss his. So he left earlier. The French international (34 caps) left Olympique de Marseille two years from the end of his contract and despite a guaranteed retraining in the ranks of a club whose colors he has worn more than anyone else in history ( 613 games).
Arrived in 2007 from Le Havre and accompanied by beautiful promises quickly transformed into action, faithful to the position since – except for an inconclusive London parenthesis when the Marseillais said to himself that it was time to go see elsewhere -, Steve Mandanda has finally left his home in Marseille. A priori, his end of career, Il Fenomeno will live it on the side of Stade Rennais where he signed up for two years in stride.
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Mandanda (OM), decisive against Rennes
Credit: Getty Images
His exit from the Vélodrome, Steve Mandanda succeeded in his own way. And probably much better than he imagined a year ago, when Jorge Sampaoli and OM put Pau Lopez in his hands. At the end of the summer, the Argentine coach had even decided to make the Spaniard his number 1, because he had better feet than the 2018 world champion.
Laconic press release
Confined to the bench and a few crumbs, while his teammate and rival gained momentum and ended up proving that his hands weren’t bad either, Mandanda bided his time, grumbling, sometimes joking, but he adapted. and had the right to a last lap, in Ligue 1 and on the Old Continent.
There was probably better to say, more to tell than what was published when his departure was formalized. We have seen longer press releases and stronger tributes for players who have done less. In Marseilles, as elsewhere.
Steve Mandanda will have the opportunity to return to the Vélodrome in the colors of Rennes and, this time, probably to receive the honors he deserves. In legend, undisputed, that he is.
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