Steed Malbranque clears the air surrounding his retirement announcement

Steed Malbranque claims that he hasn’t retired from football contrary to the reports suggesting that the French midfielder had taken a retirement. Malbranque had joined Ligue 1 club St.Etienne just a month ago following his departure from Sunderland.

But now, both the parties agreed to cancel the contract and the footballer has come out to announce that frustration led him to walk out of St.Etienne. However, Malbranque added that he is keen to start enjoying playing again. Speaking to L’Equipe, he said:

“I never said I was retiring. The club said that. I decided not to talk until my contract had been cancelled. Now I can say that the reason I left was because I didn’t have fun at training. I tried to be happy, but I couldn’t. It was pointless going on like that for a year so I decided to stop. Are you surprised?

“Everyone said I should take the money, but I am not like that. I would have been a thief if I had stayed all season, played 10 matches and taken my money. I am willing to give my August wage packet back to the club.”

A product of Lyon youth academy, Malbranque made close to 100 appearances for the Les Gones before heading to the premier league. And the 31 year old hinted that a move back to the premier league is very much on the cards, having already featured for Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland. He said:

“Do I regret coming back to France? I have asked that question. England probably suited me better. Maybe it was too big a change. Will I play again? It is difficult to say what the future will hold. Maybe one day I play in France again, I don’t know.

“I will make a decision based on the challenges involved, not money. I am in no rush and will set no deadline. At my age it is important to have fun.”

However, Malbranque’s coach at St.Etienne, Christophe Galtier, claims that he got tired of the midfielder’s antics and decided to bring in replacements.

“I am surprised to hear Steed’s words. The day before the Nancy game he came to see me and said he was not in the right frame of mind to play a match, he was questioning his ability to carry on playing. I gave him a three-day break to weigh up his options. He came back in a better mood but a few days later, before the game against Sochaux, he said the same thing. Last Friday his advisors came to me and said he was ready to rejoin the group, but by then we had signed (Max) Gradel and (Banel) Nicollita to replace him, so it wasn’t possible.”