Stéphane Sessegnon: “Before PSG, I was on Barça’s radar”

Long regarded as one of the most gifted attacking midfielders of his generation in Africa, Stéphane Sessegnon’s career could have taken a very different path. Before signing for Paris Saint-Germain in 2008, the former captain of Benin’s Cheetahs was closely monitored by none other than FC Barcelona.

He revealed this in a recent interview with the YouTube channel PodLab, speaking from Cotonou:

Long before PSG, we had offers from Spain: Barcelona, Sevilla. From the start, in my mind, my goal was to leave France after Le Mans. I told my agent: England or Spain, but preferably England.

Barcelona, ever attentive, had been tracking Sessegnon since his days at Créteil, then at Le Mans. But not everything was decided on the pitch.

They are very meticulous. They analyze everything. On the sporting side, football-wise, I could have made it. But on the personal side, everything had to be in order. On that front, the decision hadn’t been fully validated.

England was his top priority, with advanced talks with Tottenham and Everton, but in the end, Paris swooped in. Still, Barça was never far away—a matter of fine margins.

Aliou Toundé |

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