ten years later, Auxerre wants to settle again permanently in the elite

After ten years of absence, the AJA finds the atmosphere of Ligue 1. Rather active on the transfer market, the club trained by Jean-Marc Furlan aspires above all to maintain. Overview of the Auxerre forces, before the first match in Lille, Sunday August 7 at 3 p.m.

The goal: maintaining while playing

Promoted with the second Ligue 2 attack, Auxerre excited the antechamber of the elite. In L1, it’s a safe bet that AJA will go on the offensive: in the past, coach Jean-Marc Furlan has never denied his principles. The profile of several recruited players, such as Youssouf M’Changama (Guingamp) or Kays Ruiz-Atil (Barcelona) goes in this direction.

The four relegations at the end of the season will leave little room for Auxerrois, whose squad is still incomplete. “If the recruits arrive, we will have to teach them the protocols of the game, the way in which we are going to evolve, and it is even more difficult “, confided Furlan after a defeat against Reims (0-2) in a friendly on July 16. The Icaunais can still count on a few players experienced in the struggles for maintenance (Mathias Autret, Gaëtan Charbonnier) to which are added some recruits like Benoît Costil (Bordeaux) and Dénys Bain (Brest).

Player to watch: Gauthier Hein, no more fickleness?

We left him with his skull tinted in the blue colors of AJA during the victorious barrage against Saint-Etienne. At almost 26 years old, Gauthier Hein returns to Ligue 1, six years after a promising start in Metz. In the meantime, the versatile offensive player got lost, before finally hatching in Yonne. Present in the typical Ligue 2 team last year, Hein scored nine goals and distilled two assists, for his first real full season.

A technical player with a silky left leg, he distinguished himself with a few jewels, including an anthology slalom in Niort last year, named, excuse me, by Fifa as one of the most beautiful of the year. . His contract extended until 2025, Gauthier Hein now intends to shine in the elite. And leave, definitively, his inconstancy behind him.

You were warned that this goal of @gauthier_huh would go around the world

Individual achievement.
Dedication and celebration #TeamAJA.
With comments from @Nicolas_Fillon @bleuauxerre.#FIFATheBest #Puskas #Puskas2021 #golazo #proudoftreauxerrois pic.twitter.com/lrlucxOnMh

— AJ Auxerre (@AJA) April 11, 2021

The rookie: Kays Ruiz-Atil, the jewel of the revival

His arrival at Paris Saint-Germain in 2015 caused a stir. We are not talking about Angel Di Maria, but rather Kays Ruiz-Atil, a young hopeful then 12 years old. But the Frenchman, fed at La Masia, announced as a prodigy, never imposed himself in the capital. After seven small games with PSG, he returned to Barça last summer where he was quickly put in the closet (three small tenures with the reserve).

Released from his contract in May, he signed up for three years at Auxerre in order to really launch his career, at 19 years old. “He is a very gifted player, but he has to integrate our playing protocols”, warned Furlan. The midfielder will be one of the attractions of the Auxerre season.

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