Inquiring minds want to know whether the French playmaker instrumental in Bordeaux’s success this season will return to Milan after completing his year long loan. Or will he be open to staying on for at least another year?
Bordeaux is desperate to lure Gourcuff away. The club’s president has said:
“I will not comment on Gourcuff but I must say he is a world-class player. We never hid the fact that we want to keep the player. We can afford it.”
The club is on the brink of winning its first Ligue title in 10 years and there are a number of key players who have already talked about leaving including marksman Marouane Chamakh and holding midfieder Fernando Menegazzo. Both are looking to the bigger leagues. Chamakh is in negotiations with Spurs. These developments do not bode well for Bordeaux’s long term plans.
The principal figure in this end of season, will he won’t he back and forth is Christian Gourcuff, the father of Yoann and career adviser who reportedly said, “The fact that talks with Bordeaux are underway show the mutual intention to find an agreement. Then it is all about a career plan.”
Christian Gourcuff is also FC Lorient’s manager. It maybe a bit of a conflict of interest when you have a father who manages one of Bordeaux’s rivals advising career moves. Especially when Lorient has been on the receiving end. Yoann Gourcuff also got his career off the ground at Lorient under his father after graduating from the youth system. So it is safe to say that Yoann’s father has been a very influential figure in his development as a player.
A lot depends on Carlo Ancelotti’s move to Chelsea. Gourcuff was starved of regular appearances there while Ancelotti kept his “old is gold” mantra alive, of playing older players and recycling them. His father in an interview said that his son had not gained the confidence of Ancelotti at a crucial stage in his career.
“You cannot not play a 21-year-old – his career is at stake. We all agreed a loan out was necessary.”
If Milan gets a coach who believes that a core group of younger players is crucial to reviving the club’s success and Gourcuff is part of that change in philosophy, it might be attractive to return.
If Ancelotti, who is being pressurized by the likes of Beckham, for obvious reasons stays on then the picture gets a bit more cloudy. The Milan midfield has underperformed with Kaka and Pirlo falling way short of form. Clarence Seedorf does not have the legs to go 90 minutes. Ronaldinho and Pato play off the bench. Ancelotti will have to make some hard choices and jettison his policy of reviving the career of players like Becks and Sheva.
I bet you both father and son are watching with very great interest Ancelotti’s summer plans.