In Alan Virginius, YB signed a player in the summer who could one day bring millions to the Bernese club's coffers. The 21-year-old has already made his mark in the Champions League play-offs and in the Cup. But what makes the young Frenchman tick?
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- Alan Virginius moved from Lille to YB in the summer to breathe new life into his fledgling career.
- The 21-year-old has scored five goals in his first four games for YB, including the 1-0 winner in the second leg of the Champions League play-offs against Galatasaray Istanbul.
- For him, participating in the Champions League is a dream come true. But he doesn't just want to play with YB, he wants to upset the big boys. On Tuesday (18:45) they will have their first opportunity to do so against Aston Villa.
- blue Sport broadcasts all Champions League matches live.
On August 3, YB announces the arrival of Alan Virginius, who joins the club on loan for one season from Ligue 1 leaders LOSC Lille. Perhaps for longer, as YB has secured an option to buy him permanently.
Virginius can be used in a variety of offensive roles and has a lot of experience despite his young age. He trained at Sochaux and made the leap into the first team there back in 2020. Two years ago, he moved to Lille, where he played 18 games for the first team in 2022/23. Last year, however, the 23-time France youth international (U16 to U20) only made two appearances for Lille in the league and three in the Conference League before being loaned out to Clermont Foot last winter.
Virginius earned himself a regular place there and provided three assists in 14 league games. However, the talent was unable to prevent relegation to Ligue 2 and so he sought a new challenge in the summer. At YB, Virginius wants to breathe new life into his still young career.
And it can already be said that he is well on the way to recommending himself for higher tasks. In the Champions League play-offs, he scored the 1:0 winner in the second leg at Galatasaray Istanbul. In an interview with blue Sport, Virginius recalls that he was able to show off his speed after a pass from Cedric Itten. "After that, I kept my nerve and it paid off."
Four days later, he was substituted at the break against Lausanne-Sport, but failed to score on his Super League debut. It was a completely different story in his very first appearance in a YB shirt, when he scored three goals on the way to a 10-0 win over FC Printse-Nendaz in the Cup. Last weekend, he scored in the 30th minute of a 4-2 win over Vevey in the Cup to make it 1-0. Four games, five goals, that's something to be proud of.
"A childhood dream come true for me"
Virginius is not a man of big words, but on the pitch he sometimes shows his temperament. That's what happened in Istanbul when he was cautioned for celebrating a goal. "I'm a different person on the pitch. I think a lot of players are. The opposing fans felt provoked by the celebration, but I was celebrating with the YB fans higher up. The referee then wrongly showed me a yellow card for this action," says the attacking player.
Virginius has already played international matches, but not yet at the highest level. "Every player dreams of playing in the Champions League. For me, it's a childhood dream come true." He is most looking forward to the big teams, because they only exist in the Champions League. "It gives us the opportunity to play big games," says Virginius.
YB welcomes Aston Villa for the opener
However, the young Frenchman wants to do more than just take part with YB. "You always have to set yourself new goals and no limits. With every goal achieved, there's a new one. We go to the extreme, anything is possible. If we believe in ourselves and play like we did against Galatasaray, there's no reason why we can't achieve great things."
The first chance to make a big statement comes on Tuesday. YB will welcome Aston Villa, who have made a good start to the new season with three wins from four games.
