Axel Guéguin, made in Paillade

As the saying goes, life isn’t always plain sailing. More often than not, it’s a series of ups and downs. For Axel Guéguin, it started with the highs – indeed, the very highest of highs. La Paillade? He caught the bug when he was a child; at the age of seven, to be precise, when his father took him to an open day one Wednesday afternoon at the Domaine de Grammont. It was love at first sight on both sides, and Axel has never left MHSC since. Almost 14 years of a shared passion have seen him progress through every stage, notably joining the Georges Brassens secondary school in Lattes from Year 8 onwards, then the private technical school in Grammont throughout his sixth form years right up to his A-levels, all whilst continuing his football training. More than just destiny, it’s a life in orange and blue that he speaks of with passion and respect: “Madame Jarlot (Head of the MHSC’s private technical school) and Enzo Rizzoli (Head of Student Affairs) have looked after me over the years and are a bit like family to me. I’ve always been able to rely on them and I can’t thank them enough for their support and for the values they’ve instilled in me.”

He would experience another such moment a few weeks later, on 2 October 2022, when Olivier Dall’Oglio gave him his first taste of professional football in Ligue 1 during an away match in Toulouse: “It was like a dream,” says Axel. “You step onto the pitch, you see the players up close, you feel the adrenaline pumping, you’re running all over the place, you can’t control your emotions or your energy… I must have played for about fifteen minutes, but honestly, I was completely knackered by the end of the match.” “You step onto the pitch, you see the players up close, you feel the adrenaline pumping, you’re running all over the place, you can’t control your emotions or your energy… I must have played for about fifteen minutes, but honestly, I was completely knackered by the end of the match.”
« Les partenaires avaient confiance en moi, j’avais confiance en eux et je ne ressentais pas de pression particulière. C’était avant tout une fierté parce que tu joues dans un club depuis tout petit, tu rêves d’y évoluer en pro un jour et quand ce jour arrive, c’est le top. Pourquoi aurais-je eu de la pression ? Combien de gamins ont la chance de jouer en pro avec le maillot de leur club formateur et celui de leur ville sur le dos ? C’était simplement un bonheur parce que j’ai toujours voulu jouer ici et aujourd’hui j’y suis… Et ce n’est pas quelques pépins physiques qui vont gâcher ce bonheur-là. »

The next day, after a sleepless night, the verdict is inescapable and another long absence is inevitable. It’s a blow to his morale, but Axel Guéguin refuses to give up and is determined to hold on to his dream. “My family has been a huge support because there are times when you feel alone, with a thousand thoughts and ideas racing through your head as you try to understand why it always seems to be you who has to deal with it. Fortunately, the club and my loved ones have never let me down. I always had that desire in my heart to come back and give it my all on the pitch.”
At the start of the season, this young boy, who was by nature rather solitary, who ‘likes to keep to himself, play on the PlayStation or spend time with his friends’ had to really think things through to avoid relapsing: “I’ve always given it my all, in every training session and every match, without holding anything back, simply because I don’t know any other way. Maybe that’s also why it didn’t work out.”he explains : “We sat down with the coaching staff, the manager and the physios,” he explains. “We decided to really take our time, work hard, build up our strength and ease back into training gradually, taking it slowly at first before gradually stepping it up. It’s been going well since December. Fingers crossed,” he smiles.

“Signing that first professional contract was a real relief,” admits Montpellier’s number 22. “The coaching staff and management assured me they were counting on me and that they would give me time to get back to my best. I felt immense pride in signing this first contract with the club that trained me and the club of my hometown; it was a dream come true, but it was also accompanied by a great sense of gratitude.” He continues: “In every age group I’ve played in, from the youth academy right up to the first team, I’ve had some brilliant times alongside people who’ve supported me so kindly. People say that MHSC is a family club, but having experienced it all first-hand, I can assure you that the term is no exaggeration. Whether it was the coaches, the volunteers, the members of the sporting staff or those supporting the players, everyone did everything they could to create the best possible conditions for me to progress as much as possible and succeed. My attachment to the club is all the stronger for it, especially as I’ve had a lot of physical setbacks over the last few seasons; yet, despite this, the President, the directors, the club and the staff have always had faith in me and enabled me to be where I am today. Without them, I don’t know where I’d be. I’d like to thank them warmly for that and I’m very grateful to them. They’ve counted on me even when I was at my lowest, and I won’t forget that.”

A quest in which Axel Guéguin’s contribution could prove decisive, given that his profile defies the conventions of a modern game that is sometimes too formulaic. Axel compensates for his small stature with agility and an understanding of the game that allow him to position himself effectively between the lines and make a difference in one-on-one situations, both down the wing and in the number 10 role. It’s a profile as versatile as it is unconventional, and this highly technical left-footed player intends to turn it into a strength: “Football is evolving; it’s increasingly about power and speed, and even though I’m quite quick, I have to use my technique to adapt, particularly by processing information quickly to gain time in my positioning. I even played as a left-back during my first start as a professional, in Brest. As long as I’m playing, I adapt and give my all for the team.”