“I was ready to pay for my own clause to sign in Europe”

Foot Mercato: Are you back in Sochi in Russia after a one-year loan in Al-Ahly in Egypt, how is it going now?

Yahya Attiate-Allah: I am under contract with the Russian club. I came back from my one-year loan to Al-Ahly, I train with the group. We resumed last week. I had chosen al-Ahly because it is a big club that plays titles and who was going to play the World Cup club. It is a competitive club. It was an option to stay competitive and stay in a national team. The sports project, the club and the competition, is important for me.

FM: Almost three years ago, you revealed to the general public thanks to the World Cup in Qatar with Morocco. How did you experience this passage in front of the spotlights?

YAA : After the World Cup, I felt that I had acquired this title of confirmed, reliable player. This is what I was looking for with the Wydad Casablanca and when I played the Champions League. I wanted this recognition which therefore arrived after the competition. But from a personal point of view, it did not change me, I am always the same man. It hasn’t changed who I am.

FM: Do you realize that you were creating the feat with Morocco? Yassine Bounou told us that he had the feeling of being in a bubble, far from the euphoria that the country knew …

YAA : That’s exactly it. We were in a bubble. Our goal was as if we were on a mission. It was winning and returning to the hotel. We didn’t realize what we were doing. We wanted to win and please supporters. But we didn’t realize everything we had achieved. When we won, we returned to the hotel and we said: Mission accomplished, we achieved our goal. And it is only after the World Cup that we realized that it was huge what we had achieved.

FM: The aftermath of the World Cup, from a mental point of view, is it not hard to manage it?

YAA : it’s clear. Just after the World Cup, there is euphoria and a lot of joy. And then after, automatically, it turns into memory and sometimes even in nostalgia. You think about this period, the moments … There is a lot of nostalgia especially when I see the goals, the joy of the Moroccan people. But afterwards, we remain professionals and you set new objectives whether in selection or even in a club. So you find this challenge, you will look for another.

«They said to themselves that at 1.2 million euros, a player in the Moroccan championship, at the end of the contract in 6 months, that was not going to be done»

FM: Precisely, on a personal basis, after the World Cup, we expected a transfer to Europe … There was notably Montpellier. What happened?

YAA : Before the World Cup, I worked, I made a lot of sacrifices. I gave everything to the Wydad, whether in the field and outside. I had a very professional setting, I was doing everything to play in selection. My goal was to come and play in Europe. It was my dream since Petit. With the help of Wydad supporters, who helped me a lot in this period, it borne fruit at the World Cup. After the World Cup, I told myself that that’s it I was going to finally go to Europe. I left to see my management to ask if I had offers. And they told me that there was no offer. It was their answer. I was shocked. With the World Cup I made, I have no offers? It was strange. After this meeting, I told the management that I wanted to sign in Europe to continue my progress. They asked me to bring a suitable offer in this case. And my representatives of the time brought an offer from Montpellier. Montpellier made a first offer that the Wydad refused. The Wydad set another price when I only had 6 months left with the club. But it was impossible for me to leave the club free, I wanted to bring money to my club, it was important.

FM: How much was the Wydad claimed at the time?

YAA : They had set the amount at 1.2 million euros when I only had 6 months of contract. And after long negotiations between clubs, Montpellier agreed to align with Wydad requests. To speed up the process, Montpellier doctors were to come to Morocco for the medical examination. It was three days before the World Cup in Morocco and we were going to play al-Hilal. The two clubs still discussed payment deadlines and a solution had been found. But on the day of the doctors’ departure, at Marseille airport, the managers of the Wydad no longer given any news. The transfer has overturned. In fact, the Wydad wanted me to stay and did not think that Montpellier was going to line up. They said to themselves that at 1.2 million euros, a player in the Moroccan championship, at the end of the contract in 6 months, that was not going to be done. They weren’t sellers. It affected me a lot, but I told myself that in the end it was not my Mektoub (Editor’s note: Destiny in Arabic) to sign at that time.

FM: After this story, you stay at Wydad and you even end up extending there. Why this choice?

YAA : Everyone was talking about me. Agents, I mean. I did not have a mandate with them, but with the World Cup I had made, everyone thought he could bring me a good offer. People were talking to me when I didn’t even know them. There were contacts with certain clubs, but there was not what I wanted. And I didn’t want to choose a club for money. I wanted a sports project because I wanted to stay in the national team and play the CAN. I had received offers from the Gulf countries, but I was categorical. My obsession was selection. Find a club to stay in a national team. My dream was to play in a big championship to give the selection the most. But I said to myself, if I do not have the right offers, it is better to prolong the Wydad, play the Champions League, the Super African League, the title. I couldn’t find it better sportingly.

FM: But you didn’t want the Wydad to have blocked your transfer to Ligue 1?

YAA : For me, there is a difference between the leaders and the club. The club does not belong to the leaders, it belongs to the supporters. I belong to this club. I am attached to the supporters, to this club, I am a Wydadi supporter. I stayed for that. Unfortunately, some supporters think I prefer money. But if I really wanted that, I would have left for a competitor club long before. I did not make this choice, because I like this club. I have never done anything against the Wydad. We wanted to dirty my image at times, enjoy my silence. I always told myself that when the time comes, I will talk about all this. I remain grateful to this club.

FM: After this new season at Wydad, I think I know that another Ligue 1 club had come to recruit you …

YAA : You work well (laughs). There was a call with Mohamed El Kharraze, deputy sports director of Le Havre, before the CAN. There was a clause of 500,000 euros. They had promised that they were going to pay the clause. I already had an agreement with the club, even from a salary point of view, I was not greedy. I really wanted to play in Europe. But there has never been a follow -up. Le Havre told me that they did not have the money to pay this 500,000 euros clause. To tell you, I was even ready to pay the clause myself to be able to play in Europe and live this dream. But I never had an answer. I was still disappointed.

“People enjoy it because I don’t speak often. I don’t really like to talk to the media, I just want to do my job ”

FM: How do we take two big disappointments like that on the transfer window?

YAA : I am Muslim. I know very well that if there had been good in these transfers, God would have facilitated my task. I told myself that God will give me something better.

FM: After this failure, you finally signed in stride in Sochi in Russia. Why this choice?

YAA : I received the offer from Sochi and the interest of Le Havre at the same time. For me, I chose Le Havre. And then, Sochi paid the Wydad clause. I said to myself why not go there. There was a lot of respect from the leaders. I thought it was another challenge, another championship. And why not then aim higher. Then the club went down to Russian D2, and it was out of the question to stay in D2. I want to be competitive. I had received a large offer from an exotic country and the Gulf countries. But there was also al-Ahly in Egypt and it was there that I went. There is always the national team in my head. I could have doubled my salary by signing in these countries.

FM: Sochi is back in Russian D1, do you see yourself doing the season there?

YAA : I respected my contract. For the moment, I have received an offer from an exotic country with a good salary, but I refused. I want to play the CAN this winter with Morocco. For now, with the offers I have, my best sports choice is to stay here. But I remain open and even the club is attentive to the offers. Besides, at no time did I received an offer from the Wydad as mentioned in Morocco. No one has chatted with me. I don’t know why we always mean negative things about me and the Wydad. People benefit because I don’t speak often. I don’t really like to talk to the media, I just want to do my job. The truth comes out sooner or later. But my goal is to find a project that allows me to target the CAN. I want to relive an epic as in 2022.

FM: Is there a championship that you would have liked to discover?

YAA : The championship of my dreams has always been the English championship. But hey, I think it’s too late now. There, I want to discover a big championship.

FM: This would allow you in particular to hope to find Walid Regragui and Morocco soon…

YAA : I have a lot of respect for him. He helped me a lot at the Wydad. He was there behind me for me to progress. Beyond being a coach, he is also a big brother. He always wants me to improve. I cannot forget what he brought me in a club and in the selection. And Walid knows my attachment to Morocco, how I make sure to think of the sportsman.