QUESTION: How did you experience – in Lens?
ANSWER: “I feel free on the ground and in my head. I like to defend, help the team, get balloons and play fast forward. In Lens, I evolve as I want to practice football. It increases my desire. The Lens three-man system behind me allows me to stay in the middle, create spaces, for me and my teammates, and enjoy the intervals.”
Q: You recall Cheick Doucouré, your predecessor. What do you think – ?
R: “I’m glad to be compared to Cheick. We have the same style of play. I was already watching Lens last year, not least because of Cheick’s presence. I liked the style, the bullet exits. I was watching how Cheick was moving. Then, when I arrived, the coach and the staff gave me advice on my positioning. I added my style of play to it.”
Q: Thoughts – you succeed so quickly in forming such a complementary pair with Seko Fofana?
R: Seko advised me on my placement, and told me to do what I knew. He is more offensive than I am, and I let him play as he pleases. During the meetings, I tell him not to worry, that I stay behind. It’s not a problem for me. He knows he is free.”
Q: You started in L1 last year in Clermont without ever having been established in L2. How do you live – this dazzling ascent?
R: “During my first 2 seasons in Auvergne, the coach rarely changed his starting eleven. I was wondering if I was going to have a chance, but I didn’t take the lead either. I worked to play, to help the team. Then, after these two seasons on loan and when I returned to Ghana to see my mother and my family, coach Pascal Gastien called me to ask me to sign. I made a very good preparation, then I was established during the last friendly match. Everyone was shocked ( laughs ). The following week, he got me started for the first L1 game in Clermont history !”
Q: Lens had tried to attract you in 2019, without success. Why did you decide to come this summer ?
R: At the time, Lens had a very strong environment. Last spring, at 4 – 5 matches at the end of the season, Franck Haise contacted me. I told him that I really liked the way he played the team, and that I thought I could progress. He called me back when I was on vacation in Ghana. I replied that I wanted to come, even if Rennes, Nice and Marseille had contacted me.”
Q: Do you feel – that this was the ideal project ?
R: “Going to Marseille right away wouldn’t have been good for me. It was not that I was not ready, but I wanted to progress as I heard it. Marseille insisted, however, but I did tell my agent that I wanted to progress in such a way. I preferred to go to Lens for my career. And here I have been making progress since my arrival, in my way of breaking lines, playing forward, fixing. I have already crossed a very small plateau thanks to the contribution of the coach.”
Q: The very good atmosphere that reigns in the Lensois locker room helps you – t – too ?
R: “It looks like that of Clermont, who was a family. In any event, I prefer a team that looks like a family. We are in Lens, and it shows in the field.”
