The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1 Chapter 108

“Paris Saint-Germain Ready to Bid € 30 Million for Bastia Forward Ghao in Summer Transfer Window”

L’Équipe reporters also wrote in their report: Paris Saint-Germain is preparing to develop Ghao as a long-term core player and cornerstone of the team, willing to offer Ghao a long-term contract with annually increasing salary.

At the same time, players like Zlatan Ibrahimović, Thiago Silva, Lucas Moura, Marco Verratti, and others will be brought in to strengthen the team and further develop Ghao.

These players—a big striker, a defender, and midfielders—are essentially building the team around Ghao.

L’Équipe made it sound very plausible; regardless of whether this news was true or false, it certainly angered Bastia fans.

Reporting such core transfer rumors right before a crucial match like the French Cup final was ill-intentioned, designed to disrupt Bastia’s morale.

At the Sunset Cafe & Bar, fans angrily condemned PSG’s reckless behavior.

“Paris’s actions are destroying French football! They’re trying to build a strong club with money, but anyone willing to go to Paris is just a mercenary. No one will feel a sense of belonging to Paris Saint-Germain; Parisians support Paris FC more!”

“When we won the championship in 1968, Parisians were still eating snails off silver platters. Now that they have Qatari sugar daddies, they’re poaching players from all over Europe.”

“Their approach will make Ligue 1 boring. Paris will dominate, and no other Ligue 1 team will be their competitor.”

“Yeah, Lyon’s seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles might become history.”

Listening to the fans’ anger, Bertrand, Modoso, and others remained silent.

Even the enraged fans merely mocked PSG’s crazy money-driven football.

They didn’t talk about Ghao.

They didn’t talk about the € 30 million transfer fee.

They didn’t dare.

They were afraid.

They knew the ultimate outcome, and they were willing to accept it; they were just angry.

Why did L’Équipe have to reveal this information before the French Cup final?

Why did they have to explain it so clearly, as if it were a done deal?

If they hadn’t seen anything, Bastia fans would still be willing to immerse themselves in the anticipation of winning the French Cup.

Instead of now, counting how many days Ghao had left at Bastia.

On this matter, the people of Bastia seemed to have chosen to become ostriches.

Within the Bastia team, there weren’t as many thoughts about this matter.

After all, Ghao leaving Bastia was, in their view, inevitable.

Instead, most of the team, from top to bottom, hoped to win this damned French Cup while Ghao was still a Bastia player!

When Chatham chatted with Ghao privately, he even joked, “Willing to go to Paris? I really hope their € 30 million is real so the team will have money to sign players for next season’s Ligue 1.”

Ghao felt there was no need to hide anything from Chatham.

He calmly said, “If we win the French Cup, I don’t want to leave for now.”

Hmm?!!!

The moment Chatham heard Ghao’s answer, his eyes widened.

“Dieu! Mon Dieu!”

After several exclamations, Chatham’s eyes gleamed as he stared intently at Ghao. “Really?!”

Ghao remained calm. “I have no reason to lie to you.”

He made this decision after careful consideration.

At his current skill level, he certainly wouldn’t be a definite starter at a top club.

Playing as a rotation player would be too much of a waste of his time.

Instead, it was more suitable for him to constantly level up as a starter in a mid-to-lower-table team in one of the top five leagues.

And based on Ghao’s experience, two crucial criteria for winning points were the strength difference between the two teams and Ghao’s performance in that specific match.

If he went to a top club now, he wouldn’t have tactical focus, little room for individual play, and even if the team was stronger than others and he “lay down and won,” he wouldn’t gain many points.

Furthermore, reduced playing time would significantly impact his form.

Lyon’s midfielder Gourcuff, their opponent in the French Cup, was an example of a poor career plan.

He went to AC Milan when he needed to improve the most.

He kept declining.

It was only after returning to Ligue 1 with Bordeaux, getting more playing time, and gaining more trust from the coach that he had a brilliant season under Laurent Blanc.

Therefore, all these factors indicated that Ghao could not level up at a top club.

Top clubs never give young players opportunities to develop.

Coaches and management are under pressure.

One mistake by a player could mean no more chances.

As for why he chose to stay, on one hand, he was more familiar with Bastia. Instead of going to a new team and having to re-adapt with teammates and coaching tactics, it was better to stay at Bastia.

Here, he had the support of the fans and the entire team.

On the other hand, if they could win the French Cup, Bastia would play in the Europa League next season!

European competition!

This would definitely yield more winning points.

So, as long as they could win the French Cup, staying for another season was the optimal solution for him.

The rest would depend on how much he could level up in one season.

Chatham received Ghao’s promise and was excited for a while.

He then found Hantz and said with a serious expression, “I don’t care how you do it, but you must win the French Cup! You absolutely must! This concerns Bastia’s future!!”

Hantz was stunned.

At the beginning of the season, he said he would give up on the French Cup, but then he kept changing his mind, and now he was demanding that they absolutely win the French Cup.

Was winning this championship something you could just do?

After studying Lyon’s regular lineup, Hantz found it very difficult.

Their forwards, Lacazette, Gomis, and Lisandro López, were all multi-million euro players.

In midfield, they had top Ligue 1 midfielders like Källström and talented players like Gourcuff.

Could Bastia hold them off?

On April 28th, Bastia traveled to Paris and held their French Cup final pre-match press conference at their hotel.

Hantz adopted a very humble stance.

“Lyon is a team that won seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles, while we haven’t been in Ligue 1 for seven years. This isn’t a match between equals. We can only say that we will do our best and try to bring a satisfactory result to Bastia fans.”

When a reporter asked about the rumors concerning Ghao and PSG, Hantz shook his head. “No, that’s not true. The club hasn’t received any related offers.”

The reporter persisted, stating that Ghao’s younger brother was in the PSG youth academy and asking if this would influence Ghao’s decision.

Hantz simply replied, “You should ask Ghao about that.”