As announced by the club, FC Metz have acquired the signatures of three promising players from Senegalese youth academy Génération Foot. Lamine Camara (19), Pape Amadou Diallo (18), and Malick Mbaye (18) will all join the Ligue 2 side, making their move from the Atlantic coast of West Africa to the Lorraine region in Eastern France.
A strategic partnership was forged between Génération Foot and Metz in 2000, and was extended for 10 years in 2020. The partnership gives exciting young talents from the Dakar-based club the chance to play in Europe, and had been instrumental to Metz’s long run in the French top flight. Even though they were relegated at the end of last season, Metz are currently fourth in Ligue 2, just three points off second place.
Last Saturday, the three new Metz players shone in Senegal’s penalty-shoot out victory over Algeria in the final of the African Nations Championship, a competition reserved for African players who play in their native country. They will hope their moves to Europe may be as successful as those of previous Génération Foot-FC Metz graduates, such as Watford’s Ismaïla Sarr, Strasbourg’s Habib Diallo, and Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mané.
GFFN | Brendan Cox
