Sidibe comes to exorcise the black fate of the French in AEK

The takeover of Djibril Sidibe from AEK went reasonably smoothly, logically one would say after the excitement over the takeover of the giant Marcelo from Olympiakos that has overshadowed everything. But he is a very special addition, a footballer who has had a great career and valuable awards. Most brilliant is the gold medal from winning the World Cup with France in 2018.

He was also a key member of Monaco’s outstanding 2016/17 side that won the country’s Ligue 1. A footballer whose market value had risen to €18m at the time, a right-back of amazing quality and balance, a utopian approach that AEK was able to take away from him at the age of 30. But there it happened. And it has been achieved with genuine and keen interest from three Premier League teams, whether or not they ultimately moved on to something else.

His arrival also marks the ‘consolidation’ of the four-back formation, judging by his words when he returned to Monaco after moving from Everton:I came back because I’m guaranteed to play on the right where I know I can play better”. Yes, he’s also been used as a left defender or right stopper in a three-way defense, but it’s like you’re weakening him.

After all, Almeida himself, when discussing with the squad about how he feels about AEK on the pitch, had expressed concern about the large gap at the right end of defence. There was no better way to get a quality boost for the data of a Greek team that doesn’t play games in Europe. Surely this is not the time to ask him for anything other than what he does best.

The “curse” that comes with exorcism

Sidibe comes mainly to erase from the football board all the stains left there by his compatriots who fought with the two-man man in the yellow and black jersey. There weren’t many, but impressions were the worst, especially for three of the four who had been purchased with very high expectations.

The first was Eric Rabesandratana in 2001. A very notable name in French football at the time and captain of Paris Saint-Germain, an international in the smaller French national teams before settling on his native Madagascar and playing 75 games for them . He became overweight while on Makis Psomiadis and only took part in 5 official matches, none of which were for the Greek Championship!

Of the second, Olivier Ensiabafoumou, the truth is that there were no particular demands. He came through the window at AEK in 2009 when Dusan Bajevic tried him out in training and believed that despite being a stopper he could be used at right-back. He played in three cup games and was quickly retired.

However, the two biggest disappointments were also the most recent ones. Last summer, AEK took over Damian Le Talec on a free transfer after three years at Montpellier, buying right-back Clement Michellin from Lance. He believed he had made two very important additions, but both performed well below expectations. They played quite a few games last year but there are few good things to both remember.