EXCL: Caicedo good Enzo partner, I really want Andre Onana at Chelsea, Stake as sponsors, Players joining rivals, Story of when I joined Chelsea, and more...
The Frank Leboeuf Chelsea FC Column!
This week has seen a lot going on in the Chelsea world, and one major talking point is Chelsea reportedly looking to take on Betting company Stake as their main shirt sponsors.
My problem with Stake being our sponsors if it happens, is you cannot promote something that you’ve been critical about recently and even went in to a campaign to fight against it, just to be accepting the money from them. It’s like me, I work for PETA and try to save animals - like if I did some advertising for them last season and then go to the shop today and buy some animal fur - it’s like that. So that’s what I feel about that. I understand why the fans are upset about it. You have to stick to your principles, don’t just do it for money.
Meanwhile, the transfer window has been open for three days now and it’s already gone crazy. As a player, I remember that period well. The emotions of a player at that time were all over the place. You will be excited because you usually feel you are getting promoted and it’s a new venture to go on to, so you are excited. But I was married when I moved to Chelsea and a family man with two kids who were very young, so it’s always a concern how the family is going to settle down. A happy football player goes along with a happy Wife! So if the kids are well settled and in a good school and you find the right house and everything is good, then you are going to happy. You have so many things to think about; moving out, moving in somewhere new, staying at the Hotel away from the family, going to new training camps, starting pre-season. If you feel good and feel that people are taking care of you at that club, then everything is going to go well. I always thought that if I was a general manager of a club, I would really be taking care of the Wife of the player, pick her up at the Airport with a nice bouquet of flowers to make sure that she feels so happy so that her husband is happy!
It’s an overwhelming time and situation for the players, for any player. You don’t know how things are going to work or how you are going to settle. You will be meeting new team mates, maybe some you have disliked or have fought against before. It happens, it happened with me with Chris Sutton! It’s overwhelming, but very exciting.
When you come from Strasbourg as a French guy coming to Chelsea, even if Chelsea wasn’t the Chelsea of today, I had to settle down in another country, in a beautiful City, trying to drive my car on the other side of the road which wasn’t very easy!! And also, meeting all the new players and staff. Great players though - Gianluca Vialli, Dan Petrescu, Ruud Gullit, Roberto Di Matteo, Mark Hughes, I mean that was huge! I had to try and find my place, my little spot into it all, it’s very important. And you have to do that as fast as possible, that’s the thing. If you’re a striker you have to score in training, show your power to your team mates, show that you’re so confident about your football, that it’s normal that you are here and belong to the club you have just signed for. If they sense you have a little bit of doubt then your team mates will see it and they’re not going to trust you, that’s the thing. Then you take your shower, go back to your Wife, deal with everything else, the school run, the flat, even the shops you need to go to get some errands, all of that comes in to play. That all lasts at least three or four months.
When I joined Chelsea it was crazy. I was about to sign for Marseille and it was during Euro 96. Strasbourg didn’t accept Marseille’s offer, and I was right in the middle of it. Strasbourg wanted £2million for me and Marseille offered £1.4million, so the club turned it down.
I was at the Euros and I received a phone call from Graham Rix at Chelsea and he was speaking French because he played over here. He told me ‘Frank, I’m with Ruud Gullit, I think you who he is?’
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Si Phillips Talks Chelsea to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.