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Bradley Barcola in an FCSG jersey.
Imago/KI
Bradley Barcola is now one of the stars of Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team. But his career almost took a completely different turn: Peter Zeidler reveals that the winger was on the verge of a move to FC St. Gallen in early 2023.
Peter Zeidler worked in eastern Switzerland from 2018 to 2024. Together with President Matthias Hüppi and sporting director Alain Sutter, the German was a key figure at FC St. Gallen.
The former French teacher has been invited to appear as an expert on SRF for the match between France and Senegal. There, the former FCSG coach—who is now under contract with league rival GC—revealed that Bradley Barcola almost ended up in St. Gallen. The Frenchman came off the bench as a substitute in France’s World Cup opener against Senegal to score the goal that made it 2–0 at one point.
“We were proud back then in St. Gallen. We were at training camp in January 2023. Barcola was still a young player at Olympique Lyon with little playing time. Then we wanted to sign him on loan—everything was set,” Zeidler recalls. “But just at that moment, other players got injured (including Alexandre Lacazette—Ed.) and he started scoring goals right away,” the 63-year-old laments. According to Transfermarkt, Barcola’s market value before his surge in form was 2 million euros.
That’s how the talented player ended up in Paris half a year later. PSG paid nearly 50 million euros for the then-20-year-old. In hindsight, the skillful winger was worth every penny (his current market value stands at 80 million euros). Barcola won the Champions League twice with the Parisian club, scoring 39 goals and providing 37 assists in 152 matches.
“I still have his number,” says Zeidler. “Too bad. He probably would have scored goals for us in St. Gallen, too,” he jokes.
