Angers (AFP)

With one of the smaller budgets of Ligue 1, Angers is obliged to recruit clever and hopes once again to have "made the coup of mercato" with the striker Rachid Alioui, arrived free from Nîmes.

After Stéphane Bahoken last summer, arrived from Strasbourg freely and could leave soon for ten million euros, the Moroccan international of 27 years is the new find of Olivier Pickeu, who has to contend with a budget of 33 millions of euros.

As every summer, the general manager of the SCO strives to attract recruits at a lower cost to compensate for departures to clubs of his best players (Flavien Tait in Rennes, pending the possible transfers of Baptiste Santamaria, Jonathan Reine -Adelaide or Bahoken).

At the end of his contract in Nîmes, where he played for the last three seasons in Ligue 2 and then in Ligue 1 (91 games, 35 goals), Rachid Alioui (10 caps, 2 goals) was committed until 2022 with Angers.

"It's been a long time since we followed him," said Olivier Pickeu on the day of his presentation. "The time has come to put this collaboration in place, and today I consider that we have made the coup of mercato, being able to attract a Moroccan international in the prime of life, and that comes free."

- "Skip a course" -

"All conditions were met," said Rachid Alioui, who arrives in Angers with his former teammate Nadi Sada Thioub.

"It's nice that the SCO has been interested in me for a long time, it played in my decision.This proves that the leaders appreciate my profile.I was immediately convinced that it was a club to continue my progression" , he added.

This progression came to a halt last season. Injured hamstring on the last day of Ligue 2 in May 2018, he struggled to return and was only 11 times last year (27 games in total, 5 goals). A sinusoidal season, at the end of which he missed the Africa Cup of Nations with Morocco.

The native of La Rochelle arrived so revenge, with the firm intention "to pass a course". A state of mind that sticks well with the SCO, which has already shown its expertise to reveal players or restart others. "The slab + Angevin, I know, fun Alioui, it corresponds a little to what we were doing in Nimes".

With the scheduled departure of Stéphane Bahoken, Rachid Alioui should be the offensive weapon number one SCO this season. "He's a relatively complete player, technically he's just playing, he's skilled, he's got a big shot, a good head game, he knows how to take the space," said Angevin coach Stéphane Moulin.

To live a season as quiet as the past (13th with 46 points), the SCO will need his new scorer to have the same performance as the Cameroonian international in 2018-2019 (11 goals).

© 2019 AFP