Tempers are flaring after the news of Tanguy Kouassi turning down a lucrative professional contract with Paris Saint-Germain and opting to sign a five-year deal with FC Bayern Munich.
Tanguy Kouassi a fait son choix il y a plusieurs jours déjà : il va rejoindre le Bayern Munich. Contrat de cinq ans pour le défenseur français #Mercato #RMCLive
— Loïc Tanzi (@Tanziloic) June 16, 2020
On social media, many PSG fans expressed shock and confusion about Kouassi’s decision. For former PSG midfielder Jérôme Rothen, anger and frustration would best describe his feelings toward the 18-year-old Frenchman.
Speaking to RMC Sport, Rothen unloaded on Kouassi, who was born in Paris, for not showing faith in PSG as they did with him by playing him in 13 matches this past season.
“I find it purely scandalous. I am against this kind of attitude. These young people, they owe it to PSG to stay. When you have the chance to start as a professional in such a club, don’t you think that you owe something to your club, while they offer you a professional contract, to continue your progress?”
Rothen continued by questioning Kouassi’s desire to leave the French capital when everything he could ever want as a footballer can be found at PSG.
“It is the largest French club, which plays in the Champions League. I do not understand how a player can react like this after having this confidence throughout the year. What excuse can he find? He will have much less playing time at Bayern. I wish him to play but when you see the situation of [Lucas] Hernandez and [Corentin] Tolisso, two world champions who evolve in these positions of defender and midfielder, I do not see how it will prevail.”
Playing time will almost certainly be scarce in Germany with the Bundesliga champions but according to the RMC Sport, Kouassi considered Bayern’s stability to be paramount over everything—not agent fees…
“These mentalities are terrible, this is what makes me hate football among these young people. I was not trained in Paris, but it was a dream to play for them. The day I put on this jersey, it was a f*****g pride. He plays with this jersey as he would play in Marseille, Saint-Étienne, or Lyon.”
And that right there is the crux of the issue. Kouassi clearly didn’t feel any attachment to PSG despite being from the city and coming up through the youth ranks. At the end of the day, this decision was probably the best outcome for everyone involved.
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