Once a teammate of Neymar and earmarked as a future superstar for Brazil, Paulo Henrique Ganso says he is just looking forward to playing regular football again after being unveiled by modest French club Amiens.
“I chose Amiens to come to the French league, which is a very technical league, and get playing football again,” said the 28-year-old on Friday at a press conference attended by an array of foreign journalists.
He has joined Amiens on a season-long loan that could become a permanent transfer if it proves successful.
Ganso broke through at Santos alongside Neymar, the pair playing together in the side that won the Copa Libertadores in 2011 and lost that year’s Club World Cup final to Barcelona.
Capped eight times by Brazil between 2010 and 2012, he could have moved to France far earlier — he was at one point linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain, the club Neymar joined for a world record fee last year.
Instead, Ganso went to Sao Paulo in 2012 before finally moving to Europe in 2016 with Sevilla.
However, his time in Spain was marred by injuries, and Ganso made just 28 appearances in two years.
“That made me sad because I expected to play more. Here I think there will be less pressure and I’ll get more playing time,” said Ganso, who was also an unused member of Dunga’s Brazil squad at the 2016 Copa America Centenario.
“I am proud and pleased to be welcomed here, into this new family.”
Brought to Amiens by their British head of recruitment, John Williams, his choice of club is nevertheless a curious one.
The outfit from Picardy in northern France are only in their second ever season in Ligue 1, with average gates at their Stade de la Licorne only around 10,000.
“We are all going to work hard to make this a real success,” said the Amiens president, Bernard Joannin.
Ganso could make his Amiens debut in their next game, at home to Lille on September 15.
