It’s a (long) story that is ending in blood sausage. Present on the match sheet during the first 37 days of the Ligue 1 championship, as a replacement for Marco Bizot, Gautier Larsonneur was not called up for the last of the season against Bordeaux, Saturday evening at Le Blé. News that caused a stir on Friday, around 6 p.m., when the Stade Brestois group was unveiled on the club’s social networks. Contacted in the wake of the publication, Michel Der Zakarian had refused to comment on his decision. Saturday evening, after the defeat of his family against the Girondins, the Stade Brestois coach was again questioned on the subject.
– “What was the reason for the absence of Gautier Larsonneur in the group? »
– ” It’s my choice. I can say things, but I will be mean”.
– ” That is to say ? »
– “I say nothing else. Period “.
– “From the outside, this decision may come as a surprise with regard to a player you had called up for the first 37 days”.
– ” Period “.
– “So something happened…”
– (he cuts) There, he knows what happened, and I know what happened”.
A smile in Monaco that goes wrong
The provision of Larsonneur with the reserve, this weekend in Dinan-Léhon, was therefore a sanction. And the reason, according to our information, goes back to the meeting played in Monaco a week before. Shortly after Kevin Volland’s fourth Monegasque goal, the Brest goalkeeper reportedly shared a smile on the bench with two staff members, which would have reflected, in the eyes of Michel Der Zakarian, too great a detachment from the game and unleashed his wrath. The SB29 coach, behind, quickly made his decision during the week not to summon the 25-year-old goalkeeper, contacted but who did not respond to our requests.
I speak as a friend and not as a captain but it’s very hard to see him do his last like that.
Already fresh before this event, the relationship between the two men is now icy and a departure this summer from Gautier Larsonneur, zero minutes in Ligue 1 this season, is inevitable. In a long interview granted to the Telegram this Sunday, the sports director Grégory Lorenzi, on the file, also concedes this: “I can understand that it is difficult for Gautier because he has done beautiful things with us, a story is is created and must be respected. Today, Marco is number 1 and Gautier knows that such a situation is not simple, not obvious. For his own good, he must be able to find a project that would allow him to reboost and relaunch his career. We will open this possibility to him if it exists”.
“It is better that the paths separate”
Asked in the mixed zone, Brendan Chardonnet, his close friend from Le Conquet, could not hide his emotion, tears not far from flowing down his cheeks. “He still has a year on his contract, we can’t say for sure, but for him and for the club, it’s better that our paths go their separate ways. Gautier has ambitions, the club and him discussed it. I speak as a friend and not as a captain but it’s very hard to see him do his last like that. Not being in the group or on the field is very hard and we talked about it all week. It’s complicated to talk about it, I wish him the best, he still has very good days ahead of him.
A long broken spring
Leaving Larsonneur from the group, Der Zakarian undoubtedly deprived him of a proper farewell to an audience who have seen the little local guy hatch since 2017. And who have not failed to pay tribute to him and to ovation on Saturday, when he joined his teammates on the lawn for a lap of honor. But with Brest, Larsonneur also knows the spring has been broken for more than a year, when, first, Olivier Dall’Oglio took him out of goal for four games in favor of Sébastien Cibois. When this summer, on an injury of the latter to the Achilles tendon, he was detained in Brest and prevented from living his dream of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. When, a few weeks later, Marco Bizot was recruited as the new number 1 and immediately installed in the cages in Lyon. Larsonneur’s future is therefore written far from Brest for a goalkeeper who, whatever happens, will have left his mark on Stade Brestois after four seasons in the shoes of a holder, including the first three of very good level . According to our information, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Lorient have taken the temperature on the file, even if the real intentions of these three clubs have not filtered through.