It's the kind of little soap opera that fuels the transfer window every summer.
After several weeks of negotiations and twists and turns, it found its outcome on Tuesday.
23-year-old midfielder trained in Rennes, Maxime Bernauer will be able to continue his progression in L 2 at Paris FC after two full seasons in National at Concarneau and Le Mans.
He signed a three-year contract after having his medical examination on Tuesday morning.
Paris FC is therefore continuing along a path that has often been successful in the past (Laura, Name, Arab, Guilavogui, Caddy last year…): recruiting promising elements from National.
Before Bernauer, Yohan Demoncy (middle, Orleans), trained at PSG, and Migouel Alfarela (striker, Annecy) had already signed up in recent weeks.
A transfer of around 200,000 euros
For Bernauer, the negotiations were long.
At the start, Thierry Gomez, the president of Le Mans, a team now coached by Cris, the ex-defender of Lyon, asked for a large sum, around 500,000 euros for the transfer of the player under contract for another year.
A rather high sum compared to the current state of the market.
Last week, negotiations between the two clubs seemed to have stalled and even abandoned.
But on Friday, everything resumed.
The player and his entourage have shown their determination to join Paris FC.
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While he was in the squad for the Le Mans friendly on Saturday, Bernauer remained on the bench in a tracksuit. Paris FC and Le Mans finally came to an agreement on Sunday, early evening. In front of the will of the player, Thierry Gomez therefore ended up giving in and revised his claims downwards. According to our information, the transfer is very far from the amount requested on departure. It would amount to around 200,000 euros. On social media, many Le Mans supporters posted rather aggressive comments towards Maxime Bernauer.
But for Paris FC, his versatility will be an asset. The midfielder is already well supplied (Mandouki, Name, Diakité, Demoncy, Kikonda, Camara…), Bernauer should be used in the right back by Thierry Laurey. This could raise the question of the future of the experienced Gaëtan Belaud and Thibault Campanini.