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Big Clubs Eyeing Chermiti

December 23rd, 2007 | By: Rami | 7 Comments »

So we had all heard the reports regarding interest from Napoli, Hertha Berlin, Hamburg SV, Olympique Marseille, Stade Rennes, FC Basel, and FC Zurich but after a successful Club World Cup you can now add more to that list: Juventus, Arsenal, Ajax Amsterdam, Feyenoord, and FC Porto are said to have been impressed by the teenage sensation. You would think that I’d be jumping for joy at the thought of this but I’m not convinced a move away from Sousse is the best thing for a 19 year old with his personality traits. Call me sensitive but I get a feeling he’d get homesick pretty quickly and it might impact his development. I think that once this season is over he could do another half year with Etoile. The Ligue 1 in Tunisia can still offer him more in terms of learning to cope with physicality and just raise his general maturity. Infofoot reports that his pricetag has skyrocketed to 10 Million (not sure whether thats dollars or euros though…). If that is true, it would absolutely crush any transfer sum for a Tunisian player. I struggle to think that he’ll end up costing more than Chikhaoui though but what do I know…

His tears after losses to Boca and Urawa show that this kid is a winner (his play too of course). A lot of Tunisians would have been all smiles after playing so well and only losing by one goal against Maradona’s former club but not Chermiti. At only 19 he’s won a an African Confederation Cup, a Ligue 1 title, an African Champions League title, and qualified his team for the Club World Cup. Not bad for someone who only just started his pro career. He’s used to winning, and winning a lot and I sometimes wonder how things would be if he ends up going to a team that doesn’t compete for titles every year. I’m really of two minds on this though because on the other hand a move to Europe could prove very useful as well if he goes with the right mindset and finds a club and city where he can be happy and effective.

It’ll be interesting to see where he ends up… and at what point in his career it happens. His stock is really high right now so Etoile might consider dealing him sooner rather than later. I have a feeling he’ll at least finish off this year though. If Chikhaoui somehow ends up at Juve and they want Chermiti as well that could be a perfect scenario as the youngster could have a countryman to confide in and that would ease his adaptation to a new country. Speaking of Chikhaoui, he’s only weeks away from getting a French passport and this will make him more attractive to teams that have to worry about EU and FIFA regulations regarding foreign players. Don’t worry though guys, he’s still reppin the Carthage Eagles! For those interested in the Chikhaoui transfer, the FC Zurich president is quoted as saying he’s not gonna let the starlet leave during the winter transfer window. He wants the Swiss fans to enjoy his supreme talent for a little longer before the eventual move.

What are your opinions regarding Chermiti transfer? Where would you like to see him end up and under what circumstances?

In Other News

More from the disgruntled Zied Jaziri. He lashes out at Lemerre, Maaloul, and the rest of the technical staff which doesn’t stand up to the Frenchman. He also questions that Ben Khalfallah call up (not because the kid isn’t talented but because he didn’t contribute in any way to the qualification and then gets a gift like this that he thinks isn’t deserved. He cites Karim Nafti as a person who deserved a call up much more. This makes sense considering Nafti played in every qualifier as a starter…)

Yahia close to signing to nice for a 6 month contract and an option for two more years.

Tunisia still looking for sparring partners. Right now all we have is Zambia confirmed. Morocco pulled out of the Maghreb derby at the last second and it leaves us desperately searching for someone to play us. We’re trying to convince Egypt (even offering to pay for their flights and hotel according to some reports) but their schedule is pretty tight and we might have to settle for some smaller teams. These preparations aren’t really perfect are they? Also, we’re one of the few teams that is doing its training camp in its home country, perhaps the only one at that. Let’s hope the guys stay concentrated and get into some kind of rhythm. We can do something at the ACN but there’s a lot of factors that have to be settled before then.

Tags: Amine Chermiti, Arsenal, Carthage Eagles, Group H, Juventus, Tunisia Soccer, Yassine Chikhaoui

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Comments

By thamer | December 23rd, 2007 at 1:05 pm

personally, i’d like to see him at a place like ajax, where its less physical and he can shine using his technique. i agree with you though, that hes not ready for europe quite yet. if he can have another champions league run like he did this year, then not only will he be better, but even more european giants will come knocking. that aside though, i’d really like to see more lesser known players from our league go to europe. we have plenty of talent on the national team that could easily play for good french or mid table german clubs (zaiem, nafkha, ben frej, ghezel, nafti,) but there are non internationals in ligue 1 that really should be given a chance on the national team(amir akrout, khaled korbi, yossef mouihbi, sameh derbali, both ben amors on css, wissem yahia) the likelihood that they are seen by europe is much greater if they are in the national team playing friendlies against those european teams(if the ftf manages to get us one, that is.) and these kids have serious talent too. Hopefully when lemerre’s contract expires, we’ll have a coach who knows who to unearth these gems we have in our league (credit to him for finding chikhaoui though)

also, there is a north african tournament starting on christmas for the u-19(i think) teams of morocco, tunisia, algeria and libya, so in case you weren’t aware, the resutls may be something you’ll want to talk about in your upcoming posts. btw, good work with these posts rami, keep it up.

Posted from United States

By Rami | December 24th, 2007 at 12:04 pm

Hey Thamer, thanks for the support man I’m totally with you on the idea of getting more of our talent overseas. With the recent exposure Etoile players got in Japan you can bet that a bunch of scouts will be visiting Tunisia more often to uncover new talent in our Ligue 1. I read on Tunisie foot that Akrout is drawing interest from Auxerre and Hamburg. The guy is on fire right now and apparently he was so distraught over not being picked in the list of 27 for Ghana that he was in a car crash later that day after hearing the bad news. Thankfully he’s doing just fine. Mouihbi is nasty too and I think the interest will come with time. Speaking of Club Africain, I just read that Lemerre got booed at this weekends game by the Club fans who were showing their displeasure at Mouihbi and Ouertani not being picked. What I don’t understand is why he didn’t make the list bigger. I mean look at Ghana and Senegal, they’ve called up so many players! I think the writing is on the wall with Lemerre. Even if we make a good run I can’t see him staying in Tunis. We’ll be talking about replacements soon enough so I’ll leave that for another post…From the statistics I’ve seen on online votes, about 65 percent of the public disagrees with a lot of what he’s doing. Sure that’s not everyone but I think its not far off the mark and it could even be more perhaps. Thanks for the heads up on the U19 tournament, I’ll look for some info and try to keep us up to date, time permitting. I forgot to say the other day actually, 3idkom Mabrouk everyone!

By Danielle | December 28th, 2007 at 8:52 am

Hey Rami,

Thanks for all of your updates! My husband is from Tunis and loves to hear about how the team is doing….especially Chermiti since it is his cousin!! Very exciting since we don’t get much Tunis news in New York!

Thanks! Danielle

Posted from United States

By Rami | December 28th, 2007 at 9:29 am

Danielle, it is truly my pleasure that I can bring some news to you and your husband from home! My love for Tunisian soccer and messages like yours are what keep me blogging. Thats what unique about Tunisia, it’s such a small country that there are these links between players, families, and fans everywhere! Thank you so much for your kind words, they mean a lot to me. Chermiti is a rising star and I wish him and your family all the best in 2008 and beyond

Posted from United States

By Danielle | December 28th, 2007 at 10:16 am

Glad to hear it! Yes, everyone from Tunisia seems to know each other or someone in common! I think my husband knows every Tunisian within a 50 mile radius!! Are you in the New York area?
Anyway….we are looking forward to Ghana 2008…and you recap of it! Do I remember correctly that you blogged that Chermiti would be benched for the first two games because of a red card?

Posted from United States

By Rami | December 28th, 2007 at 10:33 am

Unfortunately the answer to your last question is yes. He received a red card in our final qualifier against Sudan so he will miss the first two games of the tournament. It sucks for him (and us) because if you look at the group Lemerre called up there aren’t that many attackers and none match Chermiti’s speed or tenacity. Hopefully Santos can do the trick in the first two matches and then we’ll get to see plenty of Chermiti in what will hopefully be a run for the title. I’ll be posting more later today about our attacking options as I’ve read that Ali Zitouni just got injured and Lemerre is meeting with his staff to discuss who will replace him in the list for Ghana.

I live and work in Washington DC although I go to New York periodically as I have family and friends there. It’s cool to make these links through this blog, it’s my hope to build a community feel through it while creating an atmosphere of healthy debate and common support for our Carthage Eagles.

Posted from United States

By Danielle | December 28th, 2007 at 10:52 am

Yes, it is cool to make these links indeed! My husband and I are always looking for “things Tunisian”. Luckily, there is a large North African/Arab neighborhood in Queens, NY so we spend a lot of time there. There is something similiar in DC, right? Makes it easier to be far from home! I was in Tunisia for the first time this past April and loved it…what a beautiful and welcoming people and country!

Looking forward to your next post! Have a wonderful New Year!

Posted from United States

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