How Lens are integrating Amadou Haïdara despite his AFCON injury | OneFootball

Lens are easing Amadou Haïdara into their midfield after his AFCON injury, using a tailored plan to rebuild fitness and understanding.

According to L'Équipe, the Mali international, 27, signed until 2029 before flying to Morocco with Mamadou Sangaré. The tournament proved difficult.

Short of rhythm, he played only three matches and 77 minutes. Sent off at the end against Comoros on 29 December, 0-0, he then made a first start in the quarter-final against Senegal, 0-1 on 9 January, leaving in the 55th minute with a left shoulder issue.

Head coach Pierre Sage is not alarmed, saying there was never doubt over Haïdara’s suitability, that he is not viewed as fully injured, and that he should be available in two full weeks.

He is following an individual programme, studying match clips with a framework to decode Lens’s patterns, and sitting in on team talks, before joining full training in small doses.

To aid integration, he met supporters alongside youngster Anthony Bermont at a signing session on the Trannin forecourt before the 1-0 win over Auxerre. It also echoed Lens’s rich Malian lineage, from Seydou Keita to Massadio Haïdara, Cheick Doucouré and Sangaré. Ruben Aguilar joked that only his initiation song remains and that he has everything to succeed.

With 330 club games, including 37 in the Champions League, and notable versatility, Haïdara could slot into the rotation and challenge Adrien Thomasson and Sangaré. Nineteen-year-old Andrija Bulatovic has been pushing for three months. Merit and variety will guide selections, and Haïdara could enable a midfield three or play higher in Sage’s three-four-two-one, having finished AFCON on the left of a four-two-three-one.

Source: L'Équipe