Gaël Fickou should logically not have played this Saturday night against his former club. And in a week, he will not be fielded by his new club, against the team he was supposed to leave in July. You no longer follow? It's logic. The three-quarter center of the Stade Français took the Top 14 short, leaving the Stade Français in April for the neighbor of Racing 92. A club he was to join for four years this summer, before his premature crossing of the ring road is not recorded a few days before a derby finally postponed for health reasons. Due to the gentleman's agreement, however, the player will not be fielded in this derby.
And here is how the 27-year-old international (63 caps) will begin on the substitutes' bench in the clash between Toulouse and the Ciel et Blancs this Saturday (at 9:05 p.m.) for his potential first in his new colors.
The situation, made possible by an evolution of the rules of transfer which makes it possible to enlist a recruit "taking into account the context of health crisis", made cringe several actors of the Top 14. The most recovered?
One of the stakeholders in this early departure, the owner of the Stade Français, Hans-Peter Wild.
" I am very disappointed.
Disappointed with his state of mind.
It is not done to leave its partners during the season, “said the German billionaire in an interview with L'Equipe.
Putting in parallel the million euros of annual salary of Fickou and his numerous absences linked to his obligations with the Blues in the last two seasons.
"Each match is 150,000 euros," he tackled.
"There is nothing to be singled out for"
Words that annoyed those around the three-quarters center.
“Wild, he's the guy who buys a Ferrari and doesn't have the means to pay for gasoline afterwards, tackles someone close to the player.
He passes him off as a mercenary, while it was he who opened the doors to a departure from the base.
"
The Stade Français, in search of savings, has indeed mandated an agent, Pascal Forni, to find a way out for the player.
“Gaël felt betrayed,” continues a member of his entourage.
Stade Français cannot complain that he is leaving because of how they opened the door for him.
Gaël didn't want to bleed himself for them after that, you have to understand that.
"
Read alsoTop 14: why the transfer of Gaël Fickou from Stade Français to Racing 92 rushed
The injured Racing in this sector of play - Vakatawa, Chavancy - and the will of Fickou did the rest, with the support of Stade Français. "We respected the rule, there is nothing to be pointed out," annoys the manager of Ile-de-France, Laurent Travers. We didn't force anyone. On the other hand, Gaël, we asked him to leave. "We were asked to release him, we released him," retorts his Parisian counterpart, Gonzalo Quesada.
And this is how Gaël Fickou should find his former partners at Stade Toulousain in Haute-Garonne, a little over three months after being largely dominated with Stade Français (48-24). With an exciting end to the season in the third, candidate assumed for the title of champion of France. It would be the first of his career. "I'm only 27 years old, I'm sure I'll lift a cup one day," he explained to the Parisian ten days ago. And this season, the path goes more surely through Racing 92 than with its neighbor.
