A change of status.
Last season, Florian Sotoca was not one of the most prominent Sang et Or.
The spotlight was more fixed on Seko Fofana, the stainless and so effective Ivorian midfielder, and Jonathan Clauss, the indestructible and so decisive French right piston, who left for Olympique de Marseille in the off-season.
But this Sunday evening (8:45 p.m.), in the derby against LOSC, at the end of the tenth day of Ligue 1, the 31-year-old striker will undoubtedly be one of the most watched Lensois, one of those who will be in the front of the scene.
To discover
Calendar and results Ligue 1
League 1 standings
A hot start to the season
And rightly so.
Because if Racing Club de Lens makes such a remarkable start to the championship – the artesian club currently occupies fourth place in the standings, one unit from the podium and with no defeats to its credit – the native of Narbonne has a lot to do with it.
After only nine Ligue 1 days, he already has six goals to his name, which is as many as in the whole of the 2021-2022 season, as well as two assists and a penalty kick.
Read alsoLigue 1: Lens confirms the departure of Florent Ghisolfi in Nice
These flattering statistics are not only meaningless figures because his goals, like his offerings, have concretely offered points to his team.
Against Stade Brestois (3-2), in the “opening” of the championship, he scored a hat-trick to allow the Sang et Or to clinch the three points.
Against Stade Rennais (2-1), at the end of August, he was on the pass on the second goal scored by Loïs Openda.
In the process, he had found the net twice in the Lensoise wide victory against FC Lorient (5-2).
Before, at the beginning of September, contributing to the equalizer against Stade de Reims, at the end of the match, again by serving his new friend in attack.
And then last Sunday, in the clash between the Sang et Or and the Gones, it was he who unblocked the situation by converting the penalty obtained after a hand from Thiago Mendes.
Simply decisive.
Read alsoTops / Flops Lens-Lyon: Sotoca rewards Lens, OL no longer responds
A player with a unique background
The late emergence of Florian Sotoca at the highest French level is unexpected to say the least.
Six years back, in 2016, after several seasons spent in the amateur ranks - at FU Narbonne, FC Martigues and AS Béziers - and following a brief and discreet stint at Montpellier HSC, he joined Grenoble Foot 38...in CFA.
But with the Isère club, within which he quickly established himself as indisputable, he experienced two successive rises to really discover, in 2018-2019, the professional level, in Ligue 2. And for his first full season in the antechamber of Ligue 1, he distinguished himself greatly ending with twelve goals and six assists on the clock.
Read alsoLigue 1: Lens did not believe in OM's bluff in the Clauss file
Enough to attract the attention of Racing Club de Lens, very intelligent in its recruitment.
During his first year in the Sang et Or jersey, he confirmed the expectations placed on him, scoring eight goals and delivering four offerings and above all, contributing largely to the club's rise in Ligue 1 in a season truncated by the health situation.
In the French elite, he has not reached his glass ceiling either.
His statistics prove it: eight goals and three assists in 2020-2021 and six achievements and three caviars in 2021-2022.
This constant progression, this ability to get to the level at which he evolves, is one of his main strengths.
“
He is looking to progress regardless of age.
It's been a little over thirty months since I took over the team, and each time, Flo, he has always sought to progress.
This was the case before too.
It hasn't been since I arrived.
But that means, first of all, that it's a state of mind
, ”explained Franck Haise, his trainer, in September.
Read alsoRC Lens: David Pereira da Costa, the darling magician of Blood and Gold
A profile perfectly adapted to Blood and Gold
By going to get him, the Racing Club de Lens was absolutely not mistaken sportingly.
But not either, and perhaps even less so, on a human level.
Indeed, Florian Sotoca perfectly embodies the values advocated by the Sang et Or: an unfailing state of mind, true determination and a heightened sense of community.
And in addition, just like Facundo Medina, Seko Fofana or even Jonathan Clauss, he perfectly symbolizes the Lensois sports project implemented in recent years, that is to say a model based on clever recruitment - he does not cost only €1.1 million - and adapted to the needs of the workforce.
Read alsoLigue 1: Lacazette does not think Bosz's message "is clear to everyone" in Lyon
It is not insignificant if, after the Lensoise victory against Olympique Lyonnais last Sunday, Franck Haise was rave about him: "
He's been a monster for a long time, he's a player and a man I adore.
He deserves everything that happens to him, he always thinks of the collective, he is full of humility and looks so much like Racing Club de Lens that we can't do better
, "declared at the microphone of
Prime Video
, not without emotion, the coach of the Sang et Or. This Sunday evening, it is certain that the "monster" should scare the Mastiffs.
A justified fear.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/EBSW3J2SC5HNTOMU5FRFU6LMFI.png)
