In an interview with blue Sport, St.Gallen president Matthias Hüppi raves about new signing Jean-Pierre Nsame and explains why the Eastern Swiss club wants to do without pure loan deals in the future.
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- Jean-Pierre Nsame is on the verge of setting the Super League's all-time goalscoring record. St.Gallen president Matthias Hüppi goes into raptures when asked about the new Espen goalscorer.
- "It was really cool to see how he got involved and approached the other players," says Hüppi, making it clear: "First and foremost, he really wanted to come to us. You could feel that very quickly."
- Hüppi also explains why FCSG no longer wants to rely purely on loan deals in future: "We want at least one option in every loan agreement."
On Sunday against Yverdon (0:1 defeat), Jean-Pierre Nsame missed his first chance to set the sole goal record in the Super League. After his brace against FCZ last weekend, the striker now has 111 Super League goals - just like Marco Streller. But it is probably only a matter of time before Nsame leaves the ex-Basel player behind.
In an interview with blue Sport, St.Gallen president Matthias Hüppi is highly satisfied with the new goalscorer's debut. "It was really cool to see how he got involved and approached the other players," says Hüppi and explains: "A certain modesty, but certainly in the knowledge of what he has achieved in his footballing life. That was immediately transferred to the team. You can see it in individual players who have already grown a bit alongside him."
Nsame already has two goals and an assist to his name after three partial appearances. "He's so cool. He doesn't allow himself to be put under pressure. And we're not overdoing it with expectations. That would be completely wrong. At the end of the day, it depends on so many details that it works. But of course he has huge quality," enthuses Hüppi.
"First and foremost, Nsame really wanted to come to us"
However, St.Gallen are not just hoping for goals from the 31-year-old. "We knew that we needed a striker with proven goalscoring ability on the one hand and someone who would bring additional personality to the team on the other. It can't always be one or two who carry everything on their shoulders," explains Hüppi.
But how was the three-time Super League top scorer lured to eastern Switzerland? "First and foremost, he really wanted to come to us. You could sense that very quickly after the first talks. There were also other options. That would have been possible for him. But we've actually always talked about Nsame with us," says Hüppi. "When it became more concrete, we didn't have to explain to him what we were doing. Instead, he was very well informed on his own. That impressed me during the talks."
No more pure loan deals
As things stand, there seems to be a good chance that Nsame will stay with the Espen beyond his loan. This is because FCSG has an option to buy in the summer. "We don't really want to have any more pure loan players. Because you contribute to the development of these players. Examples for us are Demirovic, Latte Lath and Zanotti," explains Hüppi. "All three were important players and still have a good relationship with the club today. But in the end, they left and we benefited from them in the short term in sporting terms, but in the end we got nothing out of it."
They now want to put a stop to that. "We want at least one option in every loan agreement, which has to be realistic somewhere," Hüppi clarifies. "The best thing - as with Nsame - is that we have the player here. He can see how he likes it and whether it's a perspective for him. And we can do that straight away and then sit down together again in the summer."
