Eric Roy argues Pierre Lees-Melou ‘deserves’ France call-up

Eric Roy’s Stade Brestois maintained their impressive pursuit for a Champions League position with a 1-0 victory over Le Havre AC over the weekend.

It’s a win that sees Brest’s grip on second place grow a little tighter as they developed a four-point gap between them and the pursuing pack led by AS Monaco. The only goal came in the first half from a tidy close-range effort from Pierre Lees-Melou (30) to cap another assured performance from the Frenchman.

The midfielder has been an essential cog in the team’s exceptional run in the league, which has seen the club go unbeaten since early November, and his performances have not gone unnoticed. In January, he was the subject of intense interest from Stade Rennais as they looked to replace Nemanja Matić (35) where he would have been exceptionally well-rewarded financially in comparison to his current wage.

However, it is now Didier Deschamps that Roy believes should be paying the closest attention to Lees-Melou. In his postmatch comments, Roy praised his midfielder, “He is someone exceptional, who hovers over the team and over Ligue 1. For me, in the position he plays in, there is no equivalence in France. He can play everywhere and deserves even to have a selection [for the national side].”

The manager continued by referencing the Rennes situation, “We all agree that money can make anyone’s head spin and that it was necessarily not easy to manage this situation. I am very happy to see that he is managing to maintain his level and that he remains a very important player for our team.”

GFFN | Nick Hartland