Transfers : Esteban signs for Servette Geneva

Back to square one for Julian Esteban. Arrived in Rennes in January 2007 from Servette Genève, the Swiss striker is back to his former club, where he was already loaned last season. Esteban, still under contract with Rennes until 2011, has terminated his contract.

Rennes was looking to end the story

Esteban’s departure was already in the books since several months in Rennes. Touted as a future great at his arrival, the striker turned into a real flop. Since his arrival in January 2007, he played 8 games in the first team, for a total of 105 minutes on the pitch.
A rather miserable assessment for a young player transferred from Geneve for a fee close to 5 million euros at the time. Esteban’s time in Rennes will be remembered as another big flop, along with the likes of Georgi Ivanov, Severino Lucas, Daniel Moreira or Mario Hector Turdo.

The story was all set to be a brilliant one however, when he signed his contract on the Vilaine banks. A highly rated youngster, Esteban was putting the Swiss second division defences to the sword with the “Grenat” shirt on his shoulders. Multiple offers came towards the Swiss centre forward before he decided to join Rennes. Everything seemed set for this union to create wonder, including the recent tradition of Swiss players in Ille-et-Vilaine: Marco Grassi, Alexander Frei or even Christophe Ohrel.

Immediately, the player is taken aback by the work rate and the physical density required during the tactical training. A huge difference to what he had experienced in his home country. He was sent to the Reserve to get used to French football. But even at this level, Esteban failed to impress on the pitch. He would soon manage to astonish everyone in Rennes on a very different ground.

Esteban, the glass man

It is hard to talk about football when mentioning Esteban, as the player was so rarely seen running on the pitches at La Piverdière, because of an incredible physical fragility leading to recurring injuries. The striker is a “unique chance” for Rennes’ medical staff, always offered more work with the player: knee cyst, collarbone fracture, hamstring injuries, torn cruciate ligaments, thigh strain…

A non-exhaustive list, which explains the difficulties Esteban came across since arriving in Rennes. The club showed much patience with their Swiss man, but he failed to make the required efforts to confirm the expectations placed on him. As in Switzerland, his life hygiene is criticised by the club’s staff, blaming him for a lack of professionalism.

Still ambitious, Esteban repeated his desire to play the 2008 Euro, in Switzerland, with his national team. Under Pierre Dréossi’s management, he scored his first Ligue 1 goal against Le Mans (3-0) in October 2007. The general feeling was that this could be the turning point of his Rennes career, but hopes remained as short as Esteban’s appearances in the Red and Black shirt.

Recurrent injuries were soon dashing all hopes, and the fan base started to get worried and lose patience on this transfer. Facing a strong competition on the attacking line, his departure was unavoidable, but no team seemed ready to take a gamble on “Goku”.

Back to basics, same result…

After 2 years of struggle in Rennes, the club’s management found an agreement with Servette Geneva to loan Esteban. A solution seeming to suit everyone, for a player feeling increasingly homesick, and eager to run away from the Stade Rennais: "In Geneva, it will be much easier for me to get on with the team, I already know something like ten players, members of staff. I’ll feel good there”, he declared on his training club’s website.

During the 2009-2010 season, he was first unavailable for the beginning of the League. During his loan, Esteban only played twelve games, starting six in the Challenge League. His power and pace are recognized during his stay in Geneva, where he scored one goal and gave four assists.

As he was gradually coming back to his best, he was caught back by injuries. This time, he was the victim of a partially torn internal knee ligament, forcing him to end his season in April. Another painful situation, for a player who expected so much from his stay in Geneva. In June, the “Grenats “ vice-president, David Pivoda, affirmed his will to keep Esteban in the club, but not at any price: “We can’t pay big money for a player so often injured”, he declared in the Tribune de Genève.

A year before his Rennes contract finished, the player knew the dices were loaded after Frédéric Antonetti’s declaration towards the new season, making it clear the Swiss would not be wanted in Rennes: “A spade must be called a spade…”. In other words, Esteban was not expected to remain too long in Rennes. Since the training restarted, he was training with Laurent Huard’s Reserve. The Swiss press even charged on the club, denouncing the “sequestration” of the former future great. He will know be a Servette Geneva player again.

Also Read :
- Julian Esteban’s profile