[Témoignage] Téji Savanier: “AC Milan? My agent told me I was crazy, yes I am”
Still with Mohamed Bouhafsi, in an interview for the “Hors Terrain” program, Téji Savanier talks about the summer of 2018, when he finally returned to his favorite club, the MHSC:
“I’m surprised to know that the big clubs are interested in me, a Ligue 2 player, a neighborhood player. I’m doing a season in Ligue 1 and I have big European clubs knocking on my door. I’m very happy but I only had one idea, Montpellier. There was only Montpellier in my head. AC Milan called me, made me an offer but I said no. My agent told me that I was a crazy, yes I am. My dream is to come and play at Mosson, to wear this jersey and play in front of my family. Yet they offered me a lot more money there. But if I go there and I’m not happy, it’s no use. I want my family to be able to see me play from the stands. Here, I’m the happiest man. […] Even now when I look at Milan, San Siro, it makes me dream, I say to myself wow but… at that time, I only saw Montpellier. I wanted the Mosson. Going into this stadium, I don’t know if it shows but I’m very happy. No one can feel what I feel.
Captain Pailladin then clarified the contours of this transfer and his satisfaction at being a Montpellier player:
“The transfer was complicated but I knew that Nîmes could not block me. I spoke with the President of Nîmes who asked me where I wanted to go, when I answered him Montpellier, his head changed color. He tells me that I will not leave. I went to training, I stayed in socks, I juggled when I had to run. I did everything to leave, the next day the president called me and told me that I could go and play with my club. I thanked him. […] I had to come back, they didn’t want to sign me for free (laughs), the President had to pay but I could never ask Laurent Nicollin enough for my coming to Montpellier. We had a frank discussion, he told me that he was putting money on me and that I had better play well (laughs). For my city, I can die on the ground. We understood each other, we have a bit of the same mentality and that’s also why I love this club, it’s a family. I feel good. To see my family’s eyes when I arrived at the Cité with the number 11 Savanier flocked Montpellier jersey… Already when I was going to Odysseum with my wife in front of the shop, I was like, fuck, it’s my dream to be in this window… Today, it’s my son who comes to tell me that there is my swimsuit. I can only be happy. […]
Nobody believed in me, nobody believed that I could become a Montpellier player. I was told that I would make my career in Ligue 2. Me in my head, I said to myself no, I thought Ligue 1 and Montpellier. In Nîmes, I had to get even harder at work, even more and even more… Today, I’m a Montpellier player and I shut the fuck up to those who didn’t believe it.