Frenchman Rolland Courbis wasn't impressed by rumours of Swansea's interest in Benjamin Stambouli
Ha! I was just informed of this and thought it prudent to look up, and boy am I glad that I did! Montpellier boss Rolland Courbis was speaking at a press conference, and when he got to talking about the Swans it's hard not to see what he said as anything other than offensive. You'll have to excuse Google translate but I've tried to make it make sense...(and mostly failed)
"'It's going to Benji?[the speculation] After Newcastle and Cabella I heard Swansea for Stambouli, we still attracts the attention of big clubs with our players who are, in addition, international or future international players. That dream ...for Benji (Benjamin Stambouli) "I wake up tomorrow in Wales, I'm training with my teammates at Swansea, if I'm not the happiest footballer in the world or the happiest guy in the world, it means that I do not understand anything. I'd like to keep it and it is sold in a year, best selling in a bigger club, with financial conditions also double or triple what we are trying to propose. Because it, too, came to my ears, I almost took a nervous giggle. Ah! Yeah ... Uh ... There's even that sum? Wales ... This financial monstrosity ... and a 8-year contract, too? "
As you can see, the translation is appalling (any fluent French speakers who fancy doing a proper translation from this link are more than welcome!) but the point seems to that Courbis, boss of French "giant" Montpellier, thought it was funny we'd put a cheeky bit for Stambouli, because we're a tiny club. Indeed he even mockingly described us as a "financial giant".
Well mate, we're a tiny club who was in Europe last year, and given the financial disparity in football between the UK and France if we wanted to flex our financial muscles there wouldn't be much Montpellier could do about it. Just because we're trying to get a cheap deal on a player who only has a year left on his contract doesn't mean we don't have money in the bank, and Huw's comments last night about needing two "first eleven" players would seem to indicate there's money to be spent if we need it.
Comments like this are amateurish and if that's how he wants to do business that's fine. Somehow, I now think it's unlikely Stambouli will be coming in.