Convenience marriages sometimes give rise to beautiful love stories.
We are not there yet between the Stade Français, which is looking for a training center, and the Camp des Loges soon to be left by PSG for the neighboring town of Poissy.
But the discussions are continuing, which in itself is a rather good sign.
The town hall of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in search of a resident club to replace Kylian Mbappé and his troupe, who will move next summer, followed a little later by the women's team, turned, as Le Parisien revealed it, to the Parisian rugby players.
Tired of juggling between the Jean-Bouin stadium, Porte d'Auteuil, and the Christophe-Dominici stadium, in the Bois de Boulogne, for their training sessions, the Pink Soldiers, second in the Top 14 behind Toulouse, must also compose on their synthetic turf in Jean-Bouin with the football matches of FC Versailles (National) and women's PSG (D1).
Contacts took place, visits too.
On November 26, Hans-Peter Wild, the owner of the Stade Français and Thomas Lombard, its general manager, were seen in the aisles of the Yvelin area.
Last Wednesday, it was Laurent Labit and Karim Ghezal, the assistants of the XV of France coach Fabien Galthié, future managers of the capital club, who went to the Camp des Loges.
The suitors sniff each other but the idyll is not yet tied.
All is not ideal in this move.
Location first.
The players, who live in Paris or on the edge, will have to reach a place located more than twenty kilometers away and face traffic jams.
It is also necessary to find a financial agreement for the rental price.
In the meantime, the Stade Français has already rejected the advances of the French Rugby Federation, which is leading a major project combining sport and real estate on the Raoul-Montbrand stadium, in Pantin, in Seine-Saint-Denis, on a space of 4.6 Ha.
“Too far,” said Thomas Lombard.
The other avenues under study have not yet proved conclusive.
The Camp des Loges therefore remains in pole position, the main sigh despite its weaknesses.
