You leave Ligue 1 at
the age of 18
You are a ball player,
pretty technical
and then you come back 12
years later with the
reputation of breaking things up
that's the impression you get
reading about you
so did England change you that much?
In 2014-15 I was voted the best
tackler in the Premier League
and from that moment on
people forgot about my passes
and things like that.
People only saw my tackles.
Every season, my coaches,
whether at youth level or
professional level
told me I needed to progress
in terms of impact and physically.
You progressed a lot?
I progressed a lot
They said it to me so often
and I remember my first
matches in England
I'll always remember my
first match at Cardiff
in the English second division.
In the first 10 minutes I
was kicked off the park
and that's when I realised I needed
to muscle up my game.
Does it upset you to be classed
as a tackler, someone who
does the dirty work?
A little bit, sometimes. I'd like people to see the other side of my game.
You took part in the 2014 World Cup
and Euro 2016 with Les Bleus
You played at Manchester United. Do
you think you get enough respect in France?
It's true that in England I was
more respected than in France
and I'm impatient for it to happen,
I'd be so happy if people say
'he's better than we thought'
Have you suffered or do you suffer
from this relative anonymity?
That's the way it is. I'm not
someone who constantly searches for the limelight
It's like the way I am on the field.
I want to help my team as much as possible
and do my work. Sometimes it's
in the shadows and that's just the way it is.
How did the club convince you
to join Nice?
It was through what they expected from
me personally.
That is to say being at
the heart of the project?
Yes, at the heart of the project.
The coach said to me 'you'll have
pressure. I'm going to apply it
because we're expecting a lot from
you on a daily basis and in the
matches as well.'
That pleased me. I like pressure
and I liked being told that.
I also saw they weren't just words.
I see today that whether it's the training pitches
that are fantastic now, or on the
medical side, what they're in the process of doing for us
There are sleep experts coming in,
fatigue experts, lots of small details
that make me think that stage by
stage the club is becoming top-top
Your biggest surprise since
coming to OGC Nice?
It's the mentality of the lads.
Sometimes it's said that players in France don't care
and they just rely on talent,
that they don't care about the rest.
Here I am with people who really
want to work and want to win all the games
I am agreeably surprised
and it pleases me. I like it.
Is it true that Hugo Lloris, who
is from Nice, advised you?
I sent him a voice note two days before
the medical and he told me to go for it.
He told me I'd be joining a very good
club and that frankly the people
here are fantastic.
He reassured me. I stay in good
contact with Hugo. He's from Nice
and he is loved here.
So now it's down to you to recruit Hugo
and send messages to him every day
in order to get him to finish his
career here. It's your mission?
He's going to come!
At the end of his career he will
come here but he has still got
great things to achieve.
in England and with the French
national side.
You've come to play only a few
kilometres from where the France coach lives
Did you know he lived nearby?
I did it on purpose! Of course
France is still in the corner of my mind
but today it's not an obsession. I
have the advantage
that the coach knows my qualities
as a player
and that he lives nearby. Maybe I'll
have a coffee with him!
I'm going to play my matches
and give everything. What happens happens.
but for sure it's in the corner of
my mind.
