“An almost perfect first”.
It is with these words that Timothée Pembélé reacted on Instagram to his first appearance with Bordeaux.
It must be said that the evening of Sunday was rich in emotions for the young defender of 18 years.
Entered the game at half-time when the Girondins were down 2-0, the Titi literally changed the face of his team by scoring his very first goal in his new colors, at the Orange Vélodrome against OM, the great rival of his favorite club, Paris Saint-Germain.
Timothée Pembélé could not have dreamed of a better debut with the club at Le Scapulaire.
We saw him exteriorize his rage when in the 51st minute he cheated Steve Mandanda with a blocked shot on his first foray.
Positioned as a right piston in the five-man defense of Vladimir Petkovic, the child from Beaumont-sur-Oise proved that he was already ready.
He seems to have quickly found his marks and could even have offered the victory to his team on the last action if he had not procrastinated when making his hook that could have led him against the Marseille goalkeeper.
What a first with the Scapular 💙 #OMFCGB pic.twitter.com/jBzlrda0of
- FC Girondins de Bordeaux (@girondins) August 15, 2021
"It's a great shot," Pembélé rejoiced at the microphone of Prime Video after the meeting.
We were 2-0 down at half-time, the coach spoke to us in the locker room, we had to get back on track, we came back on the pitch with the slab and we managed to come back to 2-2.
Immediately, I was well received, I was keen to have a good first, it was successful, I put my first goal and I thank everyone.
"
Loaned to Bordeaux for the season, Timothée Pembélé, who has just played in the Tokyo Olympics with the France team, saw his loan come with a purchase option of around 6 million euros.
However, PSG made sure they could keep their hands on their player, much appreciated in the capital, by including a counter-option, as they had been able to do with Arnaud Kalimuendo during his loan to Lens.
Pembélé only arrived in Gironde at the beginning of last week, his will is clear: “he needed playing time, blows a relative. The Bordeaux project, a great club with a great history in France, won him over. Coach Vladimir Petkovic, directly involved in his recruitment, had praised his versatility and his ability to play on the side, the position that had seen him explode in his last seasons in U19. It is in this high position that Pembélé launched his new adventure perfectly on Sunday, he nurtures the hope that it will continue under the best auspices. With such benefits, there is no reason for it to go off the rails.