Interview: Louis Saha discusses new business venture and backs Ryan Giggs as Manchester United manager
Louis Saha spent five seasons at Manchester United in a career that spanned five different Premier League clubs before retiring last year. Now pursuing a new career as an agent, the Frenchman is tipping Ryan Giggs to restore the old traditions of success to Old Trafford...
Friday 2 May 2014 13:43, UK
“Of all the centre-forwards we employed, when you talk about their talents - two-footed, good in the air, spring, speed, power - Saha would be one of the best. He posed a perpetual threat.”
It’s not the first time Louis Saha has been made aware of Sir Alex Ferguson’s comments about him in the former Manchester United manager’s recent autobiography. And yet, he still seems taken aback. “It’s a very strong comment, especially from him. He had so many good strikers and so many players who were scoring goals for him week in week out so to have a manager of his size saying something like this is a great compliment.
“He was my neighbour for many years and at the same time he was always very fair and very honest. It was the sort of relationship that I’d wish for any player to have with their manager because you learn so much from it. He is not afraid to talk and not afraid to say the truth. As a young player, an old player or even a retired player, you can learn from people like this.”
Saha lived just 50 yards down the road from Ferguson and their relationship is closer than some might imagine. Unfortunately, the player’s impact after signing in a £12million deal from Fulham was often restricted by injury. “It was agony for us,” claimed Ferguson in his book. Saha even took to texting his manager to apologise for his regular fitness problems.
“I had that passion and I wanted to prove a point,” he tells Sky Sports. “Obviously when I was injured I couldn’t do that and I felt like I was letting him down as he’d trusted me. Those things were just a simple gesture because I wanted to prove that I was here to fight for the club. He never took it the wrong way and always tried to support me. That’s what makes him a great man.
“This is definitely the kind of treatment I want to give to young players and experienced players too. Sometimes you might consider yourself invincible but you don’t realise that next year something could happen. I want to be here to make sure players can learn from the experience of others. That will be my target as a member of Axis 10.”
New agency
Axis 10 is the new agency Saha has formed to try and help players to avoid some of the pitfalls that befell him in his own playing days. “Two years ago I wrote a book,” he explains. “I wanted to set guidelines for young players through my experience and my ideas. Now I have something concrete by using the experience of businessmen to offer help and support daily. It’s a very exciting project. I’m excited because there are so many things to be done.
“I want to be able to secure their wealth and provide the insurance because I’ve been a player and I’ve been injured. So I’ve had the threat of losing everything I love. It can be a difficult situation when you have a lot of money and then one day you wake up and you don’t have it but you still have the invoices. You have to be careful and I will be here to make them aware of that.”
Saha enjoyed a fine career in England, winning two Premier League titles with United and making five appearances as part of the 2008 Champions League winning squad. In total, he went on to score nearly 150 goals in English football with five different clubs. But he still recalls the culture shock he experienced as a 20-year-old arriving on loan at Newcastle – an inspiration for his new project.
