Toulouse's Frank Magri: 'I don't have time to be starry-eyed' | OneFootball

After a late bloomer, Frank Magri is about to make his Ligue 1 Uber Eats debut with Toulouse FC. A refreshing interview with the former Bastia striker, who is now back in his home region after a very successful season 2022-23 in Corsica.

You're coming off your best season as a professional, having scored 13 goals in 24 Ligue 2 BKT games with Bastia, including a fine run in the spring. In what way have you turned a corner?

"There are a lot of factors behind my fine season. At Bastia, I felt I had the full confidence of the coach and my team-mates. When your partners believe in you and know that you can have an impact on the match, they look for you more. All that helped me in my performances. I've also turned a corner in several aspects of the game, notably maturity. I've got a better feel for the action in the final metres. It must also be said that the season was very successful from a collective point of view and, inevitably, when the whole team works, the individualities stand out a little more, starting with the strikers."

'I tended to play every move to the hilt'

You say you've gained in maturity. What do you mean by that?

"Before I went to Bastia, I was used to youth football, where there's very little downtime, so I tended to play every move to the hilt. At Bastia, they taught me to sometimes stay calmer for one or two minutes, to do less on the pitch at times, so that I can save my energy for the actions where I can do some damage. You may only play two moves in ten minutes, but in those two moves you're going to be a lot sharper, a lot more deadly. When you're young, you tend to want to be 100% all the time, which can make you less clear-headed."

Now that you're at Toulouse, what do you need to work on to become a good Ligue 1 Uber Eats striker?

"Maturity, again! I think there's a world of difference between Ligue 2 BKT and Ligue 1 Uber Eats. I'm going to have to get up to speed quickly to meet the coach's expectations. I need to improve my game-building skills, by being a bit more active and easier for my team-mates to find. I also need to be more precise technically, because in Ligue 1 Uber Eats, if you miss a move, there can quickly be danger behind it. There's also another requirement in terms of consistency. At Bastia, over the course of a half, I could play 30 good minutes and then 15 not so good. Here, we have to be rigorous and consistent if we want to get anywhere near 45 good minutes out of 45!"

'Thijs Dallinga is obsessed with scoring'

Since you arrived at Le Téfécé, you've been able to closely watch Thijs Dallinga, who is coming off a fine season (18 goals, including 12 in Ligue 1 Uber Eats). What do you think of him?

"The first thing that surprised me about Thijs was his size. On TV, I had the impression that he was rather small, but in real life, no, he's big [laughs]. He's a striker with his own style. In the box, he often makes the right move to finish things off. He's always trying to get himself into a shooting position. You can feel that, in his head, all he thinks about is the goal, that he's obsessed with it. At Bastia, I was told that I was a bit too selfless. There were moves I had to finish where I chose to pass the ball, but we strikers are asked to finish moves. And Thijs is pretty good at it [laughs]!"

Just a year and a half ago, you were playing in National 2 with Angers SCO's reserves, and now you find yourself in Ligue 1 Uber Eats, with the Europa League coming up in a few weeks' time...

"I'm really proud of that. At SCO, I was behind the others because I was one of the oldest players to play in the reserves and I couldn't make the step up to Ligue 1 Uber Eats. I decided to start from a slightly lower level to get some playing time, which is what I did by joining Bastia and Ligue 2 BKT. But the truth is that I've always had confidence in myself and I knew I had what it took to play in Ligue 1 Uber Eats. Now Téfécé are offering me this chance and I'm going to do everything I can to seize it. I'm going to work hard to perform well. I'm very happy to be at Toulouse but I don't have time to be starry-eyed. I'm going to have to get up to speed quickly and perform to meet the club's expectations. With Bastia, I passed a milestone in my career, but now there are others to pass."

'Daniel Congré's was my very first autograph'

You were born and brought up in Agen, a hundred kilometres from Toulouse. What did Téfécé mean to you?

"It's the biggest club in the region, so I often watched Téfécé matches. And when I was a kid, the club in Agen held a friendly match between Toulouse and Bordeaux every summer, so it was a bit like the highlight of the year for the kids in Agen. We'd all go to the stadium and go crazy. And the first official match I ever saw was at the Stadium, a Toulouse-Valenciennes game where Téfécé won 3-1. I also have another anecdote about Téfécé..."

What's that?

"I played in a youth tournament in Toulouse with Agen and Daniel Congré, who played for Téfécé, came to kick off the final. He signed my very first autograph! And years later, I found myself face to face with him at Bastia-Dijon (in February 2022). I didn't dare talk to him about it. What's more, I ended up losing his autograph, but I'd also taken a photo with him that day, and I've still got it!"

Several clubs were interested in you this summer. Was choosing Toulouse a way of getting closer to your home region?

"Even though I'm back not far from Agen and my sister lives in Toulouse, I didn't really say to myself that I was going to choose my club to get closer to home. That may have played a part, but we footballers are used to changing location. Now, I'm sure I won't feel out of place here and I know the region, which will be a plus for my adaptation."

'Maybe too good for the youth academy, but not good enough to play pro football'

To go back a bit in time, you joined the SCO youth academy in 2014, rising through the ranks in the traditional way, but at the age when some players make it into the first team, you were confined to the reserve team. What was your state of mind during those years?

"I was very frustrated because I don't know if I was good enough to play in Ligue 1 Uber Eats, but I think I was good enough to be in the professional squad. That would have allowed me to continue my progression because at youth level, I'd done all I could do. Maybe I was too good for the youth academy but not good enough to play for the pros. It has to be said that certain people have the last word. I was very frustrated and that's why I ended up leaving Angers. From the outside, people might wonder why I stayed there for so long, but I really wanted to make my professional debut with the SCO. I felt good at the club, in the town... Unfortunately, things turned out differently and I'm very happy to have gone to Bastia given what happened next."

When you were 20-21 and you still hadn't got the hang of it, did you ever think about giving up football?

"Frankly, it never crossed my mind because, even though I was stagnating in the reserve team, I saw the level of some of the first-team players and I was convinced I could do as well as them. I never doubted. I never thought about doing anything else. I knew that if I worked hard, it would pay off in the end, in Angers or elsewhere."

It was a bit paradoxical because, at the end of the day, you were still captain of the SCO reserves, so you were entrusted with responsibilities and were counted on in a way...

"Once again, it's a question of people [smiles]. At the youth academy, most of the coaches were unanimous about me, but I was stagnating in the reserves... The directors of the youth academy and the instructors had confidence in my qualities and believed in me. I spoke to some of them on the phone recently and they're not surprised to see me in Toulouse today. But once again, I don't blame anyone. These things happen in the professional world and the important thing is that things worked out well in the end."

>> TRANSFERS: All the summer moves

(Photo: TFC)