Struggling to find some game time at Liverpool, Pedro Chirivella decided it was time to try something new and left Anfield on a free.
The midfielder was approached by a number of clubs, but it’s Nantes in France who managed to convince him to sign, as he put pen to paper on a three-year deal in hope of relaunching his career.
That, however, hasn’t happened, as the Spaniard has found life difficult with the Ligue 1 side under both Christian Gourcuff and Patrick Collot.
He’s played a fair bit, and yet his performances have been disappointing, showing perhaps why Jürgen Klopp didn’t push to keep him at Liverpool.
These struggles have been pointed out in France now as But! Football Club relay the Sans Contrôle podcast in France.
Pierre-Arnaud Bard, of Presse Océan, said: “I wasn’t expecting him much when he arrived. I didn’t understand why they bought him since midfield is one of the more crowded areas at Nantes. Furthermore, he arrived when Batista Mendy was planned to emerge, who is now in the cupboard. (Sarcastically) Chirivella was a great choice because he signed for three years, meaning we’ll have him for ages while we have Mendy (whose deal runs out in the summer) for zero.”
If that wasn’t enough, Jean-Marcel Boudard, who works for Ouest-France, added: “Christian Gourcuff admitted to us after a game that he found him completely lost on the pitch.”
And yet, despite all this, he still plays, perhaps because he came from Liverpool and Nantes don’t want to admit they were wrong in bringing him in.
