REGIS ON ENZO DEAL

Regis Le Bris has discussed how the initial loan singing of Enzo Le Fee in the Winter transfer window came around. He said when he initially spoke with Enzo, he thought he had a 1% chance of bringing him to Wearside, but he knew what the midfielder needed to flourish.

DIDN'T LET OTHER PLAYERS KNOW OF HIS TALENT

“No, I didn't tell them that, but they saw it pretty quickly in the first training sessions, that was pretty clear. Enzo, he's remarkable, coming from Roma where he lacked a bit of playing time, he also lacked a bit of joy, because he thrives on pleasure and confidence."

HOW HE GOT HIM

“I'm trying my luck during the winter, I say, ‘Enzo, what's happening to you? If you ever want to experience something nice with Sunderland and you're in a good position at that moment, why not?’ I tell myself I have a 1% chance of having something positive at the end, and then finally, to move on, talking with his agent, we think it might be a good idea, because it was a very short period, those four months, and probably to give ourselves the best chance of making the most of those four months, it was good to know the coach and the environment he would be in. For him, that was an essential criterion. What I particularly appreciated about Enzo, beyond the player he is, of course, was the fact that he immediately behaved like a perfect teammate."

PUTTING HIM ON THE WING

“A player of that calibre, to whom I say, ‘Enzo, I'm going to have to put you at left wing, because our two left wingers are injured, Watson and Mundle, that's where I'm going to put you for a little while, and you have to help us’. And he did it wonderfully well, it was really great, it was a demonstration of the strength of Sunderland. It's not always a brilliant, accomplished game like the final, even if I think that in the final, the individual players may seem superior at Sheffield United, but the team energy seems better at Sunderland."

STRONG TEAM

“And we have 4 or 5 players who can really raise their level, combined with the collective dynamic, I think we had that extra, and that allows us to take the lead against Coventry, in the 122nd minute, at the end of extra time, to avoid the penalty shootout, an exercise where we had not been very good during the season, and to win in the 95th minute.”