Laurent Picard
Laurent was born in Bordeaux in 1979 and grew up watching Les Girondins and supporting France. Until that day he has interviewed many football stars such as Robert Pires, William Gallas, Samir Nasri, Florent Malouda, Jose Bosingwa, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Fernando Morientes, Vladimir Smicer, Diego Forlan, Darren Bent, Djibril Cisse, Steve Bruce, Giovani dos Santos and many more.
Laurent moved to Paris at the age of 19 to study at a highly rated business school and experienced spells in London and then Madrid, as part of his course.
Those foreign experiences helped him build a solid knowledge in terms of European football and languages and a large contact database. After a few years working as a Communication and Marketing assistant in Bordeaux, he started to write for French football websites, without any idea that it was to become his full time job.
The Frenchman fell in love with journalism, and got in touch with many clubs, agents and players throughout his career. As a Premier League fan, Laurent never missed a game, and worked for Sky Sports and Eurosport’s official websites.
He then moved to London in June 2007 to start a huge adventure with Setanta Sports and brought his language skills and passion for journalism to the British broadcaster.
Madrid buy stars, Barca create them
Barcelona chairman Joan Laporta has distanced his club’s policy from Real Madrid’s transfer frenzy, and I must say the Catalonian is right: the Blaugranas are all about developing homegrown talent, whereas the Merengues break transfer records.
In an ideal world, quota regulation would help local players show themselves in their own country and would help the European leagues retain their identity.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against foreigners travelling all over the world to work. I’m a Frenchman in London and understand how rich you feel when you get to learn new languages and experience new cultures.
But I am sure that many of you agree when I say that I would like more English players to shine in The Premier League, and more Spanish players to wear the prestigious Real Madrid shirt.
Champions League winners Barcelona should be proud of their policy, as they have educated many players that have made the step to elite football – Cesc Fabregas, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Victor Valdes, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Bojan Krkic, Giovani dos Santos, Gerard Pique, Marc Crosas, Fran Merida...