MONTREAL – Thankfully, the Ambroise Oyongo saga is over.
At long last, Oyongo started training with the Montreal Impact first team – and met with the local media – on Friday morning. All smiles, the Cameroon international looked like a man on a mission. A mission to mend fences.
The last four months of Oyongo’s career have been tainted by acrimony. His agents – and himself, some reports said – just couldn’t believe the January 27 trade that took Oyongo to Montreal. Only two weeks ago, Afriksports quoted one of the agents as saying that the trade was a “skullduggery” that would earn the player “a catechist’s salary.”
On Friday, Oyongo insisted that, throughout the process, he hadn’t spoken publicly.
“I remained calm, because I knew that, if there was such a situation, it would get sorted out,” Oyongo told reporters. “If [my agent] had to say things that were a little mean – he was under pressure –, then, if I were him, I would apologize if, really, it hurt some people – MLS, or the Montreal or Red Bulls supporters. I’d say that I’m really sorry about that. You know, there are moments in life when you’re under pressure, and that’s not easy to manage.”
One thing’s for sure: this matter was complicated, with allegations of a void contract from the Cameroon Football Federation thrown in there for good measure. Oyongo didn’t address the details of the “situation,” nor did he address Afriksports’ claims that a wage increase facilitated his decision.
“It was tough getting here, because there was this situation with my contract that needed to be solved – not with the club, but with MLS, and I think that my agents sorted that out with them,” Oyongo said. “It took me here. Today, I’m here. The club needs me, and I’ll try to give everything I can, because now, I’m late.”
The Impact, throughout the process, argued that Oyongo was getting bad advice. Head coach Frank Klopas thus felt at ease to finally greet Oyongo at the Impact’s new training facilities.
Klopas was clement to Oyongo; he, too, once failed to report to Greece’s AEK Athens due to a contract situation during his twenties – an admission that elicited laughter from the assembled press.
“Whether the advice you’re getting is not right or whatever, he’s a young player,” Klopas said. “I think that’s all behind us right now. For sure, he has to come, and he has to prove himself here to the group, but he’s a humble kid with a good attitude.”
With ambition, as well. The Afriksports report also quoted Oyongo as saying that “playing in [MLS] is nothing but a stepping stone.” One of Oyongo's agents told various outlets that his client, convinced that he would be an important part of New York Red Bulls in 2015, had declined offers from Europe after last season.
Oyongo tried to put the matter to rest somewhat, arguing that any move to any club is a stepping stone.
“Right now, I’m coming here to be better,” Oyongo said. “For you to be seen, you have to play, you have to show your talent, you have to be the best. Now, certainly, there will be offers. You can choose to stay. It depends on your choice, on how you're welcomed. If you're fine somewhere, I don’t see why you should go somewhere else.
Oyongo is joining a group that has gone through massive emotional ups and downs in four short months, reaching the CONCACAF Champions League final. Despite the controversy, the group apparently welcomed him with open arms, but there is still work to be done.
“It always depends on how you get on, with whom you get on and how much time it takes,” defender Wandrille Lefèvre said. “I’m no fortune-teller. I don’t know Ambroise yet. Obviously, it’ll also be up to him to get himself in a situation where he can be accepted into a group that’s been together for four, five months. But I’m convinced that he’s a good guy, and what’s more, he’s a good footballer.”
All the while, Oyongo trained on his own and with the Cameroon national team. If he does admit to being behind the group physically, Oyongo says he’s ready to go if the call comes – even this Saturday at Stade Saputo against Real Salt Lake.
“We’ll see on the field in a bit,” Oyongo said. “Then, the coach decides. If he tells me that I’m playing tomorrow, I play tomorrow. I’d be ready [to play 90 minutes].”
Added Klopas: “I would assume, according to plans, from what I hear, I think he would be available the next game. But you never know. We’ll see today where he is and where some of our guys are. If he’s healthy and ready, I would have him available, depending on what I see today.”
