Florian Maurice, here when Fernando Marçal arrived at OL in 2017. Not his greatest success as head of the Lyon recruitment unit.

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ROMAIN LAFABREGUE / AFP

  • After 11 years spent in recruiting at OL, Florian Maurice chose to join Stade Rennais last year, to take on the role of sports director.

  • Before the OL-Rennes match on Wednesday (7 p.m.),

    20 Minutes

     looks at the trace left by “FloMau” in his training club.

  • Hailed because of the Tanguy Ndombele-Ferland Mendy “jackpot”, his Lyon record is still accompanied by a few caveats.

For many years, the jokes of Lyon supporters have burst onto social networks, in order to anticipate the crazy recruitment successes signed by Florian Maurice.

Each time, we found an illustrative photo of the person concerned, phone screwed to the ear.

“At one point, we had the impression that he was recruiting nuggets each time, and it was good to feel that we had a huge hard worker in this place at the club”, estimates Vincent (29 years old), amateur of OL.

In August 2017, during the presentation of Pape Cheikh Diop, who arrived at 20 from Celta Vigo for 10 million euros (+ 4 M € bonus), and completely unknown to the general public, the former director of the cell of Recruitment of OL had maintained this

running gag

by confiding to have followed the player "during the preseason tournament in Sassuolo in 2016".

But after 11 seasons spent as a major recruiting figure within his training club, it is in the skin of the sports director of Stade Rennais that Florian Maurice will experience the OL-Rennes meeting on Wednesday (7 p.m.).

In search of a trainer (hello Bruno G!) After the resignation on Monday of Julien Stéphan, “FloMau” mainly left good memories in Lyon.

Very close to him, the former emblematic OL trainer Armand Garrido is unsurprisingly rave about him: “He was much more than the recruiter of OL, he was one of the club's key men at the same time. title that Bernard Lacombe ”.

Florian Maurice, here on June 22, 2020, as sports director of Stade Rennais.

- C. Allain / 20 Minutes

Almost 100 million capital gain for OL in two years on Ndombele and Mendy

For the former coach of the U16 Lyonnais, then at the club's youth recruitment unit in 2018-2019, “Florian has always had an eye, and to find guys at affordable prices, when you then see the jackpot fall like for Ferland Mendy and Tanguy Ndombele, I think that means that the job has been done ”.

Here are the two essential examples cited by the defenders of the one who became responsible for the recruitment unit in 2014. It must be said that the added value is dizzying in just two years, with each time in 2019 + € 48 million for the 'OL with Mendy (Real Madrid) and Ndombele (Tottenham).

We are still talking here of investments measured at the start (5M € and 10M €) for the best side of Ligue 2 with Le Havre as well as an essential midfielder in the rise of Amiens in Ligue 1. Other bets more risky / costly have not (yet) borne fruit (Andersen, Reine-Adélaïde, Terrier, Cheikh Diop, etc.).

"There have necessarily been failures, but on the financial level, Florian Maurice's record with OL is still to be credited", slice Jean-Marc Chanelet, former Lyon side and then recruiter for FC Nantes from 2019 to 2020.

Florian Maurice, here during OL training in 2018, alongside Nabil Fekir.

- R.Lafabregue / AFP

Post-training recruitment symbolized by Maxwel Cornet and Lucas Tousart

A big downside regularly addressed by Lyon supporters concerns the large number of players who arrived to sign pros in post-training (including Olivier Kemen, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Lenny Pintor, Reo Griffiths, Héritier Deyonge ...), and having been able to stop a few local young people.

Goalkeeper trained at OL from 2008 to 2019 and today a sports coach, Dorian Grange looks at this situation often observed in recent seasons in Lyon.

When you're 18 and you see a player of your age and for his position coming from outside, it inevitably puts a blow to the ego.

We then perceive a negative message from the club towards him.

Especially since we can see that those who arrive most often benefit from more credit from OL.

"

Chosen in 2015 by Florian Maurice, and mocked since by many supporters, Maxwel Cornet, trained in Metz, and Lucas Tousart, from Valenciennes, (then aged 18) have already accumulated more than 400 professional matches with OL in five years.

"As an educator of the club, we have sometimes been able to say that we already had such potential in training, recognizes Armand Garrido.

But Florian Maurice's policy has always been to guarantee a quantity of young talents at OL, obviously with a significant commercial criterion for the club.

"Described by all as" very discreet ", Florian Maurice was not helped by the organization chart of the club, hardly provided at the level of its recruitment unit.

"He expected this recognition from his club forever"

"He might move around a lot to watch games, he couldn't be everywhere," says Jean-Marc Chanelet.

For a club of this size, Lyon has always been outnumbered at this level (three recruiters in addition to Florian Maurice and now Bruno Cheyrou), and Florian Maurice may have felt isolated.

"Isolated but also recognized and on the rise, from a simple recruiter desired by Rémi Garde in 2009 to unofficial sports director before Juninho's arrival in May 2019." I think he was waiting for this recognition, a more official title from him. of his club of always, confides Armand Garrido.

He still loves OL and he did not leave for Rennes with a good heart.

"

The jokes about future 16-year-old nuggets recruited in the depths of Serbia have at the same time disappeared from the web, and Jean-Michel Aulas released a few tackles supported by “FloMau” after his departure for Brittany in the spring.

“With hindsight, I have the impression that he was always going to look for intrinsically good players, but without clear sporting direction on the game, slips Vincent, our Lyon supporter.

He is obviously not the only one responsible for this, and I would have liked to see him continue alongside Juninho, who was quickly able to clearly explain what he wanted for OL, especially in the middle of the field.

Perhaps Florian Maurice had become too big for the recruiter position with us, but still too small for that of sports director.

"

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