At the start, part of me wanted to be like my dad. Until I was 15, 16, my mindset was to enjoy myself and to see football as just a game. When I joined Sochaux’s academy, I really understood the importance of the result behind the enjoyment.
We have a dad who already knew how to become a professional footballer. When he understood that that’s what we wanted to do, he really gave us all of his knowledge and all of his experience so that we would save some time and achieve our aims.
Yes, after every game I call him and we go through things. He tells me what I did well and the things I didn’t do well. When I was younger he really focused on the importance of us enjoying our football – and said that we’d later come to realise that the results were important for ourselves. When we were little, what he really wanted was for us to have fun, feel that freedom and express ourselves. Now that I’m a professional he tells me that every time I take to the pitch, I must never forget the child I was. That it’s what I wanted to be from a young age, that it’s a real pleasure to be a professional footballer and that I have to do everything to be the best I can be.
[Laughs] I know. No, I never believed that it was my destiny to become a footballer. I just knew that football was what I loved most in the whole world and that I’d do absolutely everything to succeed in becoming a professional.
I had loads. My first idol was Ronaldo, the Brazilian. Then it was Ronaldinho. Then there was Thierry Henry, who is still my idol. I idolised Zlatan Ibrahimović; I idolised Cristiano Ronaldo later on. So yeah, they’re fantastic players who each inspired me in their own way to be stronger.
With Thierry Henry it was the idea of being really sure of yourself on the pitch; being very cold, having a killer instinct. With Ibrahimović it was the idea of imposing yourself physically on your opponents and, given that we’re lucky enough to be big and pretty strong, using your size to your advantage. Then there are players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Ronaldinho who are very inventive and creative, who like one-on-ones, going forward and creating chances. If you were to fuse all those players together you’d get the Brazilian Ronaldo, who is the best out of all of them.
At the start, part of me wanted to be like my dad. Until I was 15, 16, my mindset was to enjoy myself and to see football as just a game. When I joined Sochaux’s academy, I really understood the importance of the result behind the enjoyment.
We have a dad who already knew how to become a professional footballer. When he understood that that’s what we wanted to do, he really gave us all of his knowledge and all of his experience so that we would save some time and achieve our aims.
Yes, after every game I call him and we go through things. He tells me what I did well and the things I didn’t do well. When I was younger he really focused on the importance of us enjoying our football – and said that we’d later come to realise that the results were important for ourselves. When we were little, what he really wanted was for us to have fun, feel that freedom and express ourselves. Now that I’m a professional he tells me that every time I take to the pitch, I must never forget the child I was. That it’s what I wanted to be from a young age, that it’s a real pleasure to be a professional footballer and that I have to do everything to be the best I can be.
[Laughs] I know. No, I never believed that it was my destiny to become a footballer. I just knew that football was what I loved most in the whole world and that I’d do absolutely everything to succeed in becoming a professional.
I had loads. My first idol was Ronaldo, the Brazilian. Then it was Ronaldinho. Then there was Thierry Henry, who is still my idol. I idolised Zlatan Ibrahimović; I idolised Cristiano Ronaldo later on. So yeah, they’re fantastic players who each inspired me in their own way to be stronger.
With Thierry Henry it was the idea of being really sure of yourself on the pitch; being very cold, having a killer instinct. With Ibrahimović it was the idea of imposing yourself physically on your opponents and, given that we’re lucky enough to be big and pretty strong, using your size to your advantage. Then there are players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Ronaldinho who are very inventive and creative, who like one-on-ones, going forward and creating chances. If you were to fuse all those players together you’d get the Brazilian Ronaldo, who is the best out of all of them.
At the start, part of me wanted to be like my dad. Until I was 15, 16, my mindset was to enjoy myself and to see football as just a game. When I joined Sochaux’s academy, I really understood the importance of the result behind the enjoyment.
We have a dad who already knew how to become a professional footballer. When he understood that that’s what we wanted to do, he really gave us all of his knowledge and all of his experience so that we would save some time and achieve our aims.
Yes, after every game I call him and we go through things. He tells me what I did well and the things I didn’t do well. When I was younger he really focused on the importance of us enjoying our football – and said that we’d later come to realise that the results were important for ourselves. When we were little, what he really wanted was for us to have fun, feel that freedom and express ourselves. Now that I’m a professional he tells me that every time I take to the pitch, I must never forget the child I was. That it’s what I wanted to be from a young age, that it’s a real pleasure to be a professional footballer and that I have to do everything to be the best I can be.
[Laughs] I know. No, I never believed that it was my destiny to become a footballer. I just knew that football was what I loved most in the whole world and that I’d do absolutely everything to succeed in becoming a professional.
I had loads. My first idol was Ronaldo, the Brazilian. Then it was Ronaldinho. Then there was Thierry Henry, who is still my idol. I idolised Zlatan Ibrahimović; I idolised Cristiano Ronaldo later on. So yeah, they’re fantastic players who each inspired me in their own way to be stronger.
With Thierry Henry it was the idea of being really sure of yourself on the pitch; being very cold, having a killer instinct. With Ibrahimović it was the idea of imposing yourself physically on your opponents and, given that we’re lucky enough to be big and pretty strong, using your size to your advantage. Then there are players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Ronaldinho who are very inventive and creative, who like one-on-ones, going forward and creating chances. If you were to fuse all those players together you’d get the Brazilian Ronaldo, who is the best out of all of them.
At the start, part of me wanted to be like my dad. Until I was 15, 16, my mindset was to enjoy myself and to see football as just a game. When I joined Sochaux’s academy, I really understood the importance of the result behind the enjoyment.
We have a dad who already knew how to become a professional footballer. When he understood that that’s what we wanted to do, he really gave us all of his knowledge and all of his experience so that we would save some time and achieve our aims.
Yes, after every game I call him and we go through things. He tells me what I did well and the things I didn’t do well. When I was younger he really focused on the importance of us enjoying our football – and said that we’d later come to realise that the results were important for ourselves. When we were little, what he really wanted was for us to have fun, feel that freedom and express ourselves. Now that I’m a professional he tells me that every time I take to the pitch, I must never forget the child I was. That it’s what I wanted to be from a young age, that it’s a real pleasure to be a professional footballer and that I have to do everything to be the best I can be.
[Laughs] I know. No, I never believed that it was my destiny to become a footballer. I just knew that football was what I loved most in the whole world and that I’d do absolutely everything to succeed in becoming a professional.
I had loads. My first idol was Ronaldo, the Brazilian. Then it was Ronaldinho. Then there was Thierry Henry, who is still my idol. I idolised Zlatan Ibrahimović; I idolised Cristiano Ronaldo later on. So yeah, they’re fantastic players who each inspired me in their own way to be stronger.
With Thierry Henry it was the idea of being really sure of yourself on the pitch; being very cold, having a killer instinct. With Ibrahimović it was the idea of imposing yourself physically on your opponents and, given that we’re lucky enough to be big and pretty strong, using your size to your advantage. Then there are players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Ronaldinho who are very inventive and creative, who like one-on-ones, going forward and creating chances. If you were to fuse all those players together you’d get the Brazilian Ronaldo, who is the best out of all of them.
At the start, part of me wanted to be like my dad. Until I was 15, 16, my mindset was to enjoy myself and to see football as just a game. When I joined Sochaux’s academy, I really understood the importance of the result behind the enjoyment.
We have a dad who already knew how to become a professional footballer. When he understood that that’s what we wanted to do, he really gave us all of his knowledge and all of his experience so that we would save some time and achieve our aims.
Yes, after every game I call him and we go through things. He tells me what I did well and the things I didn’t do well. When I was younger he really focused on the importance of us enjoying our football – and said that we’d later come to realise that the results were important for ourselves. When we were little, what he really wanted was for us to have fun, feel that freedom and express ourselves. Now that I’m a professional he tells me that every time I take to the pitch, I must never forget the child I was. That it’s what I wanted to be from a young age, that it’s a real pleasure to be a professional footballer and that I have to do everything to be the best I can be.
[Laughs] I know. No, I never believed that it was my destiny to become a footballer. I just knew that football was what I loved most in the whole world and that I’d do absolutely everything to succeed in becoming a professional.
I had loads. My first idol was Ronaldo, the Brazilian. Then it was Ronaldinho. Then there was Thierry Henry, who is still my idol. I idolised Zlatan Ibrahimović; I idolised Cristiano Ronaldo later on. So yeah, they’re fantastic players who each inspired me in their own way to be stronger.
With Thierry Henry it was the idea of being really sure of yourself on the pitch; being very cold, having a killer instinct. With Ibrahimović it was the idea of imposing yourself physically on your opponents and, given that we’re lucky enough to be big and pretty strong, using your size to your advantage. Then there are players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Ronaldinho who are very inventive and creative, who like one-on-ones, going forward and creating chances. If you were to fuse all those players together you’d get the Brazilian Ronaldo, who is the best out of all of them.
At the start, part of me wanted to be like my dad. Until I was 15, 16, my mindset was to enjoy myself and to see football as just a game. When I joined Sochaux’s academy, I really understood the importance of the result behind the enjoyment.
We have a dad who already knew how to become a professional footballer. When he understood that that’s what we wanted to do, he really gave us all of his knowledge and all of his experience so that we would save some time and achieve our aims.
Yes, after every game I call him and we go through things. He tells me what I did well and the things I didn’t do well. When I was younger he really focused on the importance of us enjoying our football – and said that we’d later come to realise that the results were important for ourselves. When we were little, what he really wanted was for us to have fun, feel that freedom and express ourselves. Now that I’m a professional he tells me that every time I take to the pitch, I must never forget the child I was. That it’s what I wanted to be from a young age, that it’s a real pleasure to be a professional footballer and that I have to do everything to be the best I can be.
[Laughs] I know. No, I never believed that it was my destiny to become a footballer. I just knew that football was what I loved most in the whole world and that I’d do absolutely everything to succeed in becoming a professional.
I had loads. My first idol was Ronaldo, the Brazilian. Then it was Ronaldinho. Then there was Thierry Henry, who is still my idol. I idolised Zlatan Ibrahimović; I idolised Cristiano Ronaldo later on. So yeah, they’re fantastic players who each inspired me in their own way to be stronger.
With Thierry Henry it was the idea of being really sure of yourself on the pitch; being very cold, having a killer instinct. With Ibrahimović it was the idea of imposing yourself physically on your opponents and, given that we’re lucky enough to be big and pretty strong, using your size to your advantage. Then there are players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Ronaldinho who are very inventive and creative, who like one-on-ones, going forward and creating chances. If you were to fuse all those players together you’d get the Brazilian Ronaldo, who is the best out of all of them.
