Marc-Vivien Foé Prize: Gaël Kakuta, "one of the last street footballers"
Gaël Kakuta “has no regrets” and wants to “stay in Lens”.
© RFI / Pierre René-Worms
Text by: Tom Rossi Follow
6 mins
Gaël Kakuta became, this Monday, May 17, the first Congolese and Lensois to receive the Marc-Vivien Foé prize which rewards the best African player of the Ligue 1 season. After years of traveling without finding a suitable shoe, the number 10, which we say "reserved", can finally shine with regularity.
Portrait of a Leopard who does not like to be tamed.
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His dark circles bear witness to the short night he has just spent.
Gaël Kakuta,
Marc-Vivien Foé 2021 prize
, returned at 4 am from Bordeaux where he and his teammates lost the day before during the 37th day of Ligue 1 (3-0).
Fortunately, he has "
easy sleep
" and can fall asleep in five minutes.
The defeat and this handful of hours of rest do not manage to take away from him this communicative smile, witness of his "
pride
" to become the first Congolese and Lensois to receive a prize which bears the name of a local icon, deceased in 2003.
Here, you have to take the Allée Marc-Vivien Foé to get to the Bollaert Stadium, the venue where Gaël Kakuta has scored nearly half of his 11 goals this season.
The best record of his career as a “globetrotter” as he says himself (twelve clubs in five different championships).
Gaël Kakuta, winner of the Marc-Vivien Foé Prize, on the RC Lens training ground.
© RFI / Pierre René-Worms
In Lens, the midfielder is at home.
Back last summer, he found his training club and discovered a trainer, Franck Haise, who left him "
complete freedom of expression on the ground
", explains Eric Assadourian, current RCL training director.
He was Gaël Kakuta's youth educator before he left for Chelsea at the age of 16.
According to him, this "
freedom
" is "
perhaps what allows it today to be so efficient
".
The principal concerned does not say anything else: "
I am a creative, I need to walk on the ground
", whereas it is especially in clubs and in different positions that he has been.
"I tended to put myself too much in my bubble"
“
Gaël is one of the last street footballers, that is to say he cannot be formatted like a robot.
He has a footballing feeling, an extraordinary instinct.
As we said 20-30 years ago, he is a player who “stinks” of football,
”adds the Franco-Armenian trainer who sees him as another essential quality:“
beyond his technical faculties, it is someone who has a huge passion for this sport.
He takes great pleasure in the field.
For him, playing is the most important thing and it shows in the intensity and energy that he puts into it
”.
Gaël Kakuta Marc-Vivien Foé 2021 award during the Radio Foot Internationale program, May 17.
© RFI / Pierre René-Worms
“Playing”, however, is what the 29-year-old Congolese has done too little in his career. The blame for injuries, a very young start abroad and amazing destinations (Hebei China Fortune, Vitesse Arnhem in the Netherlands). Asked about this in International Radio Foot, the number 10 Lensois said “
do not regret anything. I only retain the positive. It's behind me
”.
But when you dig a little deeper, Gaël Kakuta has “
suffered
” all his loans from 2011 to 2015 in England, Italy, the Netherlands and France when he was still a Chelsea player.
"
I should have left in 2010 after the coronation of the Under-19 Euro with the France team
," he admits, before evoking his personality when asked about the advice that 'he would give young people: "
Let them communicate, say what they feel."
Me, I tended to put myself too much in my bubble
”.
Eric Assadourian in his office in front of the shirts of Gaël Kakuta and Raphaël Varane, two players whose training he was in charge of at RC Lens.
© RFI / Pierre René-Worms
A talent that does not coincide with his checkered career? “
I have my share of responsibility,
” concedes the Foé prize. Eric Assadourian sees another quality in this: “
he has this ability to question himself very quickly. He can sense things that don't fit and will do everything to fix them. He doesn't need anyone for that. He knows how to ask the right questions
”.
And even more with the experience that accumulates.
"
With age, I open up more
" underlines the not so withdrawn northerner if we are to believe his former educator: "
Gaël has great empathy.
He is very open even if he seems discreet.
He is an outgoing person who creates positive waves around him
”.
Not a "
barker
", that's for sure, but a "
technical leader who speaks in small doses
", according to Franck Haise.
“
An example
” for the young people of the training center adds Eric Assadourian.
And “
a source of pride
” for his son who now has the Marc-Vivien Foé prize in his room.
"
This is the little place where I put my awards, he likes it
», Smiles Gaël Kakuta.
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