The first time Franck Haise saw Gaël Kakuta, the latter was only 16 years old.
“I was in charge of training at Stade Rennais,” testifies the artesian technician.
In order to finalize the recruitment of Vincent Pajot in Rennes, I had followed a match of the Ile-de-France team of Vincent against Lens where Gaël played… ”Then, like everyone else for years, he followed his peregrinations from a distance. around the world.
From 16 years old, the Lille teenager trained in Lens chose to emigrate to Chelsea in the hope of imitating the Blues of the time: Anelka, Drogba, Essien, Lampard, Ballack, Malouda… Alas, despite his talent, the Franco-Congolese has never imposed himself there, nor really anywhere else, carried away in a succession of loans suffered (Fulham, Bolton, Dijon, Vitesse Arnhem, Lazio Rome, La Coruna) and improbable transfers ( Sevilla FC, Hebei China Fortune).
"Gaël is an element very connected to the game"
However, twelve years of wandering did not get the better of this inspired player.
Appropriately transferred to Amiens last season, he gave, in addition to 2 goals and 5 assists, a glimpse of the very good player he would have become if his course had been more linear.
Followed by his training club for many months already, he approved a loan from the promoted Lensois, rejecting a juicy proposal from the Gulf.
In the Sang et Or jersey, he found Haise again, 13 years later and, in a few months, became the great architect of the Lensois renewal.
Even if they no longer go to Bollaert for the moment, the supporters voted him the best Lensois of the first part of the season.
#StatduMois @ BeSoccerFR🎯
9, like the number of matches without defeat of Lensois in Ligue 1 (4 wins, 5 draws).
This is the best current series among the 20 teams in the championship.
You have to go back to the reception in Nice on January 23 to find traces of a setback. # Rclens pic.twitter.com/PfhyxiI0Iy
- Racing Club de Lens (@RCLens) March 29, 2021
Left-handed with both feet, Kakuta is distinguished by his superior quality of control, dribbling, hitting and passing… By a certain efficiency too: 9 goals (including 6 penalties) and 4 assists so far.
Small size, 1.73 m, he finally gives his full performance at 29, alone behind two attackers to choose from, in the system set up by Haise.
“I had Gaël on the phone during the summer holidays so that we could talk a little about RC Lens, the way he and I saw things, confides the latter.
The system was built because I wanted a player of his caliber to support the attackers.
Indispensable, nobody is, but it is someone important in our system and our animations.
Gaël is an element very connected to the game and not just to the offensive game.
"
"There is a purchase option concerning it"
Reserved, the person admits without formulating it that he has never been as good as this season: “I am a creative player, I am more comfortable in a position where I am free.
You can't say to me:
Stay there and do that!
I can also play on the sides, but the system is best suited to my position.
Unfortunately, Kakuta, 9 caps, 1 goal with DR Congo, will not have the opportunity to shine at CAN in January, after the elimination of the Leopards this week, without him.
“Offensively, he knows very well what we are putting in place, understands it very well, even anticipates it,” adds Haise.
Also, I leave him a lot of autonomy in this area.
In defensive animation, he also makes a lot of effort.
It happens that he is a little less well physically, but it's up to me to manage his playing time… ”The activity has a price: out of 25 starts, Kakuta has only played 90 minutes five times. .
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With spring, anti-Kakuta devices flourish in Ligue 1. "The teams are starting to see that what we have created since the start of the season is not down to luck," confirms the European Under-19 champion in 2010 with the Bleuets.
The axis is a little more closed for us, I take more and more blows… ”Among other traps, it will also have to arm itself against the offers which will not fail to arrive this summer.
“There is a purchase option for it,” says Haise.
In the mind of the club, it was not a matter of a one-year dry loan.
We had a broader vision, we all want to continue working and moving the club forward with him.
"
