| |
| ACTUALITE |
17.09.2007
Olembe hungry for English action
New Wigan defender Salomon Olembe admits he was hungry to return to English football after being given a taste of the Premier League at Leeds.The Cameroon international made a dozen appearances during a loan spell at Elland Road in the 2003-04 season.
And despite offers from clubs in Germany and France when he left Marseille during the summer, Olembe was happy to join the Latics on a free transfer after agreeing an initial 12-month deal.
"I had options to go to Metz or a German team but I have been in England before and I like the football here and the way people live with football, so I chose to come here," he said.
"I had contact from Wigan and I decided to come after I spoke to a lot of people here, including Antoine Sibierksi, who told me it was a good club for me and an ambitious club.
"I played with Leeds and I know it`s a good quality in the Premier League. I hope I will progress and give a good, positive attitude to Wigan to help them keep winning."
Wigan manager Chris Hutchings moved for Olembe to help fill the void at left-back left by Leighton Baines` move to Everton.
The 26-year-old arrived with top-level experience domestically and in Europe from spells with Nantes and Marseille.
And it was at Nantes that Olembe, who has been capped 60 times by Cameroon and twice played in the World Cup, was first inspired by Frenchman Sibierksi, who is again a team-mate at the JJB Stadium.
"When I signed as a professional and I was in the Academy at Nantes he played there and we played for maybe a year and a half together," added Olembe.
"We won the French Cup together and at Nantes he was like a big brother. He`s a great man.
"He was a big part of my decision to come here because I have spoken a lot of time to him and he has given me a lot of information about Wigan, the position and the ambition of the club and I have to thank him for all that help."
Olembe made his first appearance for Wigan with a 90-minute run-out in the reserves on Wednesday night.
He admits that he needs to improve his fitness to recapture the pace of the English game.
But he is likely to be included in the Latics` squad to face Fulham on Saturday to ease him into the first-team picture with Kevin Kilbane, who has been filling in at left-back since the start of the season, serving a one-match ban.
"We wanted to get a game under his belt because he has only done a little bit with us and he will come into my thinking," said Hutchings.
|
|
| Hits: 1 | Source:Teamtalk | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
