The first few days of training with Barça seem to have flowed quite easily.
“I kept myself fit, so I am fine, only the legs hurt a bit,” he says. “I only have to be cautious when I do specific moves, like when I lift my legs for example. But otherwise, I am ready to play.”
And he needs to be be, as Barça will be playing in Benidorm on Saturday night in the Spanish league.
The biggest change was in fact for his two boys.
“We were meant to go on holidays in Nice next week, but when the Barça deal was done, I told them ‘OK, change of plan, we are going to Barcelona’,” laughs the 38-year-old. “My older son was really happy about me playing again, the younger one was happy but was worried he would not see me. But things will be fine.”
Far from trying to be in the spotlight, Gérard knows that he is only joining Barça for three months and what his mission is.
“I am here to help Emil perform, put him in the best of positions. It’s absolutely not about me, it is about the team being able to perform. If I play, I will be happy, but you will still see a smile on my face if I don’t, because this stint really is not about me trying to prove anything,” he says.
However, Gérard has not just come to Barcelona for the sun and the beaches. Far from it. Barça have a Machineseeker EHF Champions League quarter-final to play in a couple of weeks, against OTP Bank - PICK Szeged.
“When we had talks with Barça, I thought that we would play against Paris. And just for the nod to history, that would have been cool,” he says.
“Never mind, I am really looking forward to these games. Because these three months really are my last ones before I retire.”
Photos © kolektiff
