Jean-Kevin Augustin.

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Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP

  • Jean-Kevin Augustin (23) was ordered to leave the professional group and join the reserve workforce until the end of the season.

  • This great hope of French football, trained at PSG, arrived at FCN in early October.

  • He only played about thirty minutes because he is absolutely not physically ready to face the high level.

Raymond Domenech, just before packing his bags, saw him "on the last step".

Jean-Kevin Augustin must have fallen from the top then in recent hours when he learned from the mouth of his new coach Antoine Kombouaré that he was excluded from the professional group of FC Nantes and that he had to join the reserve team until the end of the season (with Ndilu and Basila), as revealed by

Ouest-France on

Tuesday morning.

Last week, Kanak, who wanted to tighten up the group with a view to maintaining it (Nantes is 17th in L1), still left the doubt on this former great hope of French football, 23 years old: "He does not" is not yet ready for me to make a match.

He works well, he has a very good working mentality, but there are players ahead of him.

Physically, for sure, all of them.

Jean-Kevin Augustin has suffered from a confusing athletic / physical deficit since his arrival in Nantes in early October.

Before his arrival on the banks of the Erdre, he had played barely fifty minutes in February (over three matches) with the Leeds jersey then had completely disappeared from the radar.

Gourcuff wanted a Norwegian, he had Augustin

Augustin arrives from England to FCN in the last hours of the transfer window.

The striker considerably reduces his salary (around 100,000 euros at FCN).

This recruitment file is validated by Christian Gourcuff, for lack of anything better.

The Breton coach was rather eyeing the Norwegian Jens Petter Hauge (21-year-old winger who signed for Milan in October), according to information from

20 Minutes

.

“He arrived in deplorable physical condition,” remembers someone close to the case.

This does not prevent the former PSG striker, top scorer in Euro 2016 U19 won by the Blues of Mbappé and Blas, from scoring a friendly goal against Angers (2-1 defeat) a few days after his signing.

Escorted by a reputation as a talented player and the label again, the technical staff refused to put it in reserve immediately.

It even comes into play 33 minutes in Ligue 1 over three games in November (Paris, Metz and Marseille).

His only playing time in the end since his arrival.

Before the reception in Strasbourg (and the dismissal of Gourcuff) on December 6, Christian Gourcuff announces that Augustin, affected by the Covid a few months before, will follow an individual preparation with the preparer Cyril Moine.

The challenge is great.

Huge even as the attacker suffers during the sessions, even during simple jogging.

Augustin, who doesn't mind working, is bound to be light years away from being able to repeat the high-intensity races that a normal pro footballer must succeed.

Mental suffering too ...

His suffering on the physical level mingles with a psychological fragility.

Augustin is no longer a professional player.

In order not to sink it and always in a concern to spread a positive communication, Raymond Domenech affirms that the attacker "advances".

The player's fitness slider goes from "30 to 40%" just after the arrival of the former coach to "75%" just before his dismissal.

Whoever has spent a little more than forty days on the Nantes bench is however fully aware that Augustin is far from being suitable for a high level match.

This case even creates some tension between the technical staff and President Kita, who pays this player 100,000 euros per month and who sees his market value at half mast.

At the start of the week, Antoine Kombouaré decided and sent JK Augustin in reserve until the end of the season.

Further proof that recruiting this player is currently a completely failed gamble.

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  • Raymond domenech

  • Antoine Kombouare

  • Waldemar kita

  • Christian Gourcuff

  • League 1

  • Nantes

  • Soccer

  • FC Nantes

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