From mason in Australia to playing for Newcastle

Fairy tales exist in football, and from time to time a train passes by that you don't expect. Florent Indalecio, who has just signed a contract for the remainder of the season with the Newcastle Under-23 team, has joined him, after being examined for almost six weeks. It was not be for lowerly. Indalecio had been playing in amateur football in Australia, in the amateur team of Fraser Park, framed in the second division of the state of New South Wales, in a league between amateur and semi-professional. The player had ended up there because of the vicissitudes of life. In his adolescence he had been part of the Saint-Etienne academy, where he had been a companion of Saint-Maximin, the current winger and merciless dribbler for Newcastle.

And they were forays, more on the part of Indalecio, because the player, at 15 years old, ended up expelled from the prestigious academy for indiscipline. From there, to earn a living as you can. He was playing in France and the United States, in the minor leagues, until he got tired of the blanket last year and went with a friend to Australia to start a new life. His illusion of being a professional in Europe had been practically buried.

With hardly any money in his pocket, in Australia they say that Indalecio survived by sleeping on a friend's sofa and asking for work in the French emigrants' associations. One of them placed him on a construction site and began his career as a bricklayer. “I did not know English and I learned it among bricklayers,” says the footballer to The Sydnei Morning Herald. “They helped me learn how to mix concrete and language, it is very hard work, very physical,” he recalls. Meanwhile, the midfielder joined Fraser Park FC. But the pandemic only allowed him to play a couple of games. Stranded in Australia, it was where his friend Saint-Maximin lent him a hand that could be crucial in his life.

“He is a true friend, he has given me this opportunity, he spoke with the club and organized the test, I did well and they signed me,” the player explains happily now. who wants to make merits to continue progressing and restore the trust of both his friend and Steve Bruce. The coach was curious about Saint-Maximin's offer and has supervised the exam for two months, until the boy has been signed for the remainder of the season. “I love soccer, I play with passion. If Newcastle wants to sign me for free, I'll play for free. It is not a problem. They will not regret signing me, because I know that I will help the team and I will try. I will do my best ”, affirms an Indalecio who feels“ deeply regretful ”for having missed previous occasions due to indiscipline.