Nike Academy: The New Recruit

Welcome to The Chance France. You are here today to go through a number of tests. I want players who want to be professional footballers, not the lifestyle. You need to be fit, you need to be strong, you need to be mentally tough. It is important for me that I get an athlete to become part of the Nike Academy. Go out and express yourselves. Yes, 536 is the centre-back you like. He is very very calm on the ball. He wants to be on the ball. When he plays, he drops off to receive again. He gives good angles and distances off his fellow centre-halves and defenders. And I would like us to make a big round of applause for number 536, Minthou Dobassi. Well done, Minthou, congratulations. That is your shirt, please give him a round of applause, well done. I was really happy and surprised by how welcoming the Nike Academy team were. It was a great moment. My name is Minthou, I'm 18 and I come from Montrouge football club. I am a midfielder, but I can play at centre-back or right-back. This is of course the first week for Minthou, I think he really likes it here and everybody likes him. With the communication there is no problem because he speaks English, Spanish and French. I think the players will work hard if they know there is a new player coming for their position. We did some little drills with him earlier, just to get him on the ball and some heading and passing. He joined in with the possession game that we played today and it is plainly clear to see that the pace of it caught him out. I would expect that for any of the trialists that come through. My first aim is to make the starting team. I'd like to improve physically, get stronger, and hopefully become a pro one day.