The situation with Leicester City, Eduardo Macia and Bordeaux continues to be strange, and if anything is getting stranger.
To have a recap, in October of last year we covered a story saying a deal was 99% done and Macia would soon be on his way to France to become director of sport at Bordeaux.
Then in December, the French club’s president Joseph DaGrosa spoke publicly about the situation, although wasn’t willing to be completely open: “We can’t really comment on him, even if we’ve known him for over a year. Hugo Varela has known him for longer. I think that if we can get him to come, it will be a great bonus for the club, but for now there’s no change, even if things can evolve quickly. Our football project is building the team up.”
In February of this year, it was reported in France that Leicester made Macia stay for the January window, but he was already working on some Bordeaux signings for the summer market.
On Tuesday we covered comments agent Bruno Satin had given to the French media this week. It wasn’t clear what Satin’s connection to the situation is, and the agent was quoted as saying: “The sports director will arrive in a fortnight. It is someone who is relatively known. You will find out, his name has already filtered. At Leicester at the same time as Claude Puel.
“Eduardo Macia? Exactly. It’s been a while since we talked about it, but he had not warned his employers that he was leaving. His name was actually out. He is coming with a scouting team and he is going to want to do the same project that Lille has put in place. Have means available, buy young players and play them.”
There’s now another update.
Girondins33, a website specialising in Bordeaux, have quotes from Nicolas Le Gardien, who works for the French club’s local newspaper. On Macia’s switch, Le Gardien explained: “I cannot tell you when he will actually be there, and as long as he is not there, there will always be a little doubt.
“Officially, nothing is done, he is still under contract at Leicester today and is even potentially there next season, so he still works for them, including on the loan of a young Englishman from Liverpool.
“So Macia is in-between. We know that he is close to GACP (Bordeaux’s owners), and that he has been a consultant to Joe DaGrosa for a long time, even before the sale was concluded. Everyone is waiting for him in Bordeaux, but it’s not contractual. There, Leicester have a new coach, Brendan Rodgers, and it is said in England that he would like to bring in the recruiting chief he knew at Celtic, so all that could make things easier, obviously, to eventually release Eduardo Macia. But nothing is done contractually yet. In any case, he is already there for Bordeaux and hoped for by GACP. He is expected in Bordeaux, yes. But today he is not here.”
The young Englishman who Macia is looking to loan from Liverpool would presumably be Harry Wilson, with recent reports saying the move could happen in the summer market.
Girondins33 also say one of the scouts Macia would take to Bordeaux is Jakob Friis-Hansen.
According to his LinkedIn page, the Danish scout is still employed by Leicester City, having been appointed in 2016.
