JT Foot Mercato: the forgotten UNFP trophies of the 2021-2022 season

In this edition of Foot Mercato: the many players forgotten in the nominations for the UNFP awards, PSG dodges the ceremony and Virgil van Dijk snubbed by Thierry Henry.

The forgotten of the UNFP trophies this season

The 30th edition of the UNFP trophies will take place on May 15th. Many hope to be crowned, but some have not had the chance to claim it. In the category of the best players of Ligue 1, we think of Seko Fofana of RC Lens or Mattéo Guendouzi of OM. Among the goalkeepers, Anthony Lopes, considered one of the best in his position in France, is paying for OL’s bad season. The prize for the most forgotten is certainly Christopher Nkunku of RB Leipzig in the category of French players abroad. Among the coaches, the absence of Franck Haise, the coach of the Blood-and-Gold team, is surprising. Mauricio Pochettino, despite being crowned French champion with PSG, is also not present. It is worth noting, however, that the absence of a crowned coach is a rare occurrence. The last one to whom this happened was Alain Perrin, in 2008 with OL.

PSG absent from the UNFP awards ceremony

Crowned champion of France, PSG has 3 players in the various categories with Kylian Mbappé, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Nuno Mendes. A ceremony that should not see the Parisians on May 15 as reported by RMC Sport, an express training course would be planned on May 15 and 16 in Doha. The players and staff will fly away at the end of the game scheduled for Saturday, May 14 in Montpellier, which would prevent them from being physically present at the UNFP awards ceremony. Instead, videos and duplexes would be planned by the club so that the players can participate remotely. A possible absence that questions while Kylian Mbappé is well on his way to be a candidate for his own succession to the title of best player in Ligue 1.

The reproaches of Virgil Van Dijk to Thierry Henry

Winner after a crazy comeback against Villarreal (2-3), Virgil Van Dijk spoke after the game on CBS Golazo, with Jamie Carragher, Thierry Henry and Micah Richards. The Dutch defender intended to remind Henry that he did not respond to his messages. “Titi, I sent him a message but he did not answer me. Tell him to Titi, the legend”. In the aftermath, Thierry Henry gave his reasons. “Actually, I no longer have his number. Send me a message! I’ll ask someone else for his number. I changed my number and when I put all my numbers on my new phone, his wasn’t there.”