A lifestyle of his own, an atypical career path and a man attached to his roots. One thing is certain, Téji Savanier is not a footballer like the others. A member of the gypsy community, the native of Hérault will have only known the south-west of France in his career. Trained at the Athletic Club Arlésien, passed through Nîmes and arrived in Montpellier in 2019, the French midfielder even snubbed Europe to favor a more relaxed family environment, at home in the heart of the Gély city.
“The year I signed for Montpellier, there was Lyon, there was AC Milan. I put my family before my career, it’s more important to be good with them. I could have earned a lot more money at Milan, but I would have been unhappy, and it would have shown on the pitch. In Montpellier, I am at home, I still live in my neighborhood. It made no sense to go to a big club so as not to feel good about myself,” explained the former Nîmes man.
In an interview for Prime Video alongside Smaïl Bouabdellah in his city, the Montpellier resident justified his desire to stay in his neighborhood and not live up to his means: “That’s where I feel best. After the matches, I prefer that we all meet here together rather than in a big villa alone. When I arrive here, I am no longer the Téji footballer, I am the Téji kid from the neighborhood who goes to play pétanque with his friends and cousins. We have drinks and the losers pay for them! These are little things that make me feel good when I’m outside of football.”
At a time when the exile of players in Saudi Arabia is becoming more and more frequent, Téji Savanier preferred happiness to money: “A lot of people around me told me to go to Milan. Everyone talked to me about money, but that doesn’t bring happiness. I’m not going to complain today, I’m not badly paid in Montpellier, far from it. I am very happy at home with my family. My son comes with me to training, for me it’s the best thing that could happen to me.”
“Any player would like to taste the French team”
Author of 34 goals and 24 assists in 124 matches with Montpellier, the name of Téji Savanier has come up several times during the announcements of Didier Deschamps’ various lists in recent years. Apart from a stint with France during the Olympic Games in Japan in 2021, the player who will celebrate his 32nd birthday in December will unfortunately not have had the chance to join the Château de Clairefontaine until now.
“Any player would like to taste the French team, it’s a regret. But here I am, I gave myself all the means to succeed by being good on the field. Afterwards, the coach’s choices cannot be discussed. It’s my life, it’s my career and that’s what it is. I am very proud of what I did because I came from very far,” Savanier put things into perspective.
