Esteve in French Olympic Squad

[agreenwood]

Good news for him, but maybe not so much for us.

The tournament starts in late July and doesn’t finish until after EFL season kicks off.

Depending on how far France go, our new gaffer might not be able to work with him until mid August.

[Boxy]

Maybe our new gaffer is henry. Would make the interim Bellamy make sense

[bumba]

It may be another clubs problem by then

[AGENT_CLARET]

It may be another clubs problem by then

We're not going to buy him and then sell him 3 weeks later

[Roosterbooster]

We're not going to buy him and then sell him 3 weeks later

Why not? If someone offered £25m then it'd be worth considering
Maybe that's exactly why we did sign him. If we knew there was interest, then it's easy money

[Poulton-le-Claret]

Why not? If someone offered £25m then it'd be worth considering
Maybe that's exactly why we did sign him. If we knew there was interest, then it's easy money

Exactly, I hope he stays but since he has just signed then any sell on fee would have to be for a very tidy profit.

[bumba]

We're not going to buy him and then sell him 3 weeks later

Remember Jelle Vossen?

[Goliath]

Remember Jelle Vossen?

That was great business. He couldn't have looked any less suited to a Dyche team

[ŽižkovClaret]

Odobert must have come close, i'd imagine

[morninbob]

Odobert must have come close, i'd imagine

He's with the u20s at the Toulon tournament.

[ŽižkovClaret]

He's with the u20s at the Toulon tournament.

That won't overlap though will it? I could imagine the player not wanting to commit to both though, he needs some sort of break

[wilks_bfc]

Good news for him, but maybe not so much for us.

The tournament starts in late July and doesn’t finish until after EFL season kicks off.

Depending on how far France go, our new gaffer might not be able to work with him until mid August.

Not quite - the final is on Friday 9th, the same day as the season starts.

Hopefully France will be knocked at at the group stages (unlikely though as have USA, New Zealand & Guinea)

[BigGaz]

One of our 7 center backs can step in for Esteve assuming he doesn't get flogged and one of the FULL XI we could put out of players that can play as an occasionally threatening AM can step in for Odobert, no biggy.

[daveisaclaret]

Probably not such a big deal with it just being in France but thought going to the Olympics was a big part of Chris Wood's rotten last season.

[Big Vinny K]

Probably not such a big deal with it just being in France but thought going to the Olympics was a big part of Chris Wood's rotten last season.

Wood was New Zealand’s star player and he picked up a hamstring injury. Pretty sure they rushed him back too early - presumably Wood agreed to this too.
I think this was the Olympics - I might be wrong but it happened in some big tournament or qualifying play off.

I agree though that players who play in a big tournament in the summer can definitely be impacted at the start of the normal season. But guess that’s the price of doing well and getting picked by your country. If you are playing poorly and you represent a big footballing nation like France then you won’t get picked. Again it’s a bit different for a country like New Zealand as even if someone like Wood has just had a poor season or been injury prone they are always going to select him and even if he’s not fully fit they’ll probably play them too.

[equinox]

Esteve playing in the Olympics won't diffine our season next year.

[Grimsdale]

L'Equipe reporting that we've refused to release Esteve to play for the French Olympic team, the reason being cited is "the injury of one of its players".

https://www.lequipe.fr/Jo-2024-paris/Fo ... es/1475049

[Goliath]

L'Equipe reporting that we've refused to release Esteve to play for the French Olympic team, the reason being cited is "the injury of one of its players".

https://www.lequipe.fr/Jo-2024-paris/Fo ... es/1475049

Let's hope it's been discussed and agreed with the player beforehand.

[123EasyasBFC]

Esteve playing in the Olympics won't diffine our season next year.

It might if he picked up a season ending injury

[NewClaret]

Let's hope it's been discussed and agreed with the player beforehand.

Yes, agreed. Let’s hope we’ve dealt with it properly.

I also really hope that this is a sign he’s staying and we’re not protecting him from injury as we expect bids.

If we have any aspirations of becoming an established premier league team we have to hold on to the players who proved they were capable at that level.

[Ightenhill_Claret]

I wonder if this is anything to do with the injury Ekdal picked up playing for Sweden. If we think that might be another long-term injury for him then we want to make sure that we don’t lose any other players in tournaments we have some control over?

[Pearcey]

I wonder if this is anything to do with the injury Ekdal picked up playing for Sweden. If we think that might be another long-term injury for him then we want to make sure that we don’t lose any other players in tournaments we have some control over?

Sounds like it from the article. Weird though as we have plenty of centre halves on the books. I get that some will leave though.

[wilks_bfc]

I wonder if this is anything to do with the injury Ekdal picked up playing for Sweden. If we think that might be another long-term injury for him then we want to make sure that we don’t lose any other players in tournaments we have some control over?

I don’t think it’ll be so much a worry about the potential of losing Esteve to injury (although that would be a concern)

Think it will be more to do with the season starting whilst the Olympics is on

[CrosspoolClarets]

Distinct possibility this is with a view to selling him to someone like Everton. I suspect that the club want their money sorted ASAP so they know where they stand for a new manager. Personally I think Esteve is great and wouldn’t sell him, with an eye on 2025/26, but he is now our most bankable asset in defence.

[ClaretTony]

L'Equipe reporting that we've refused to release Esteve to play for the French Olympic team, the reason being cited is "the injury of one of its players".

https://www.lequipe.fr/Jo-2024-paris/Fo ... es/1475049

I hope this isn’t true. To deny a player a recognition like this is just not right at all.

[fatboy47]

Poor if true...and IF thats the whole story.

[Pearcey]

The player must’ve agreed to this. I can’t believe anyone would be so callous to deny an opportunity like this. We are not short for centre half cover.

[Walt]

Transfer request incoming if he wasn't part of the decision.

That's what I'd be doing if I was him anyway.

[golden days]

Poor if true...and IF thats the whole story.

It won't be
I think I read the tournament over laps the start of the season, or close to it... We need him pre season to be ready for the first game, stuff the Olympics, football shouldn't be in it anyway.

[wilks_bfc]

It won't be
I think I read the tournament over laps the start of the season, or close to it... We need him pre season to be ready for the first game, stuff the Olympics, football shouldn't be in it anyway.

Olympic final is 9th August
Championship season starts 10th but more than likely there’ll be a game on the Friday night

[golden days]

Olympic final is 9th August
Championship season starts 10th but more than likely there’ll be a game on the Friday night

And pre season

[ClaretTony]

It won't be
I think I read the tournament over laps the start of the season, or close to it... We need him pre season to be ready for the first game, stuff the Olympics, football shouldn't be in it anyway.

He’s been called up to represent his country in the Olympics and that’s huge for any player. Jack Cork was in the 2012 GB Olympic squad as was Craig Bellamy. I can imagine they wouldn’t have been happy if their clubs had said no.

We might have had players lost to the African Cup of Nations earlier in the year. As clubs you should just accept it.

I can’t believe this story, as it’s written, can be true.

[Goliath]

He’s been called up to represent his country in the Olympics and that’s huge for any player. Jack Cork was in the 2012 GB Olympic squad as was Craig Bellamy. I can imagine they wouldn’t have been happy if their clubs had said no.

We might have had players lost to the African Cup of Nations earlier in the year. As clubs you should just accept it.

I can’t believe this story, as it’s written, can be true.

You are making big presumptions here. We can't make judgement if we don't know the facts about what was said between club and player.

[ClaretTony]

You are making big presumptions here. We can't make judgement if we don't know the facts about what was said between club and player.

I’m not making any presumptions at all which is clear from my post.

[NewClaret]

He’s been called up to represent his country in the Olympics and that’s huge for any player. Jack Cork was in the 2012 GB Olympic squad as was Craig Bellamy. I can imagine they wouldn’t have been happy if their clubs had said no.

We might have had players lost to the African Cup of Nations earlier in the year. As clubs you should just accept it.

I can’t believe this story, as it’s written, can be true.

Interesting point about Bellamy. You’d hope therefore that since he’s in charge he’d understand how a player would feel about wanting to go to an Olympics. I know I would.

Hopefully this is misrepresented in some way or at the very least has been handled with the utmost professionalism by the club otherwise.