After 4 seasons at LOSC, Xeka announced his departure from North. A look back at the journey of a mastiff who always does his best for a club he loved so much.
In 2017, while playing for SC Braga, the Portuguese club decided to loan him to LOSC, on the last day of the winter transfer window. After 15 games in the North, Lille exercised the option to buy in June 2017. But the Portuguese will only play one game for LOSC since Marcelo Bielsa decided to loan him to Dijon FCO at the end of August. He will make his debut for FC Burgundy in the sixth round of the match and score his first goal the next day. In great sporting difficulty and close to relegation, LOSC would like to break the loan of the Portuguese in order to come to boost the workforce, but Dijonnais refuses despite forcing the player. The latter would finish the season in Dijon and be sent off and save Lusk from relegation one day from the end… against Dijon.
The development of the situation in the team
He then returned to Lille and started in the middle with Thiago Mendes during the 2018-2019 season, with Lusk finishing second behind Paris Saint-Germain. Solid in midfield, he is an important architect of this fantastic season. But this stand will be called into question the following year. Indeed, arrivals such as captain Ren Benjamin Andre or Renato Sanchez after the departure of Thiago Mendes are changing the hierarchy. Thus Xeka will have to start the first matches on the bench. During the 2019-2020 season, he will play only 25 matches, 5 fewer than the previous year despite the Champions League. But if he is not a starting player yet, he will return several times in the following season, in 2020-2021, and he will always give his maximum. The proof of this is that during the year of the title he participated in the most matches with 42 participations, but also scored two goals. This year, on orders from Jocelyn Jorvinek, the midfielder will have played only 29, a drop in particular due to the arrival of Belgian Amadou Onana, but the 27-year-old will still score 4 times. , the busiest season. of his career, including once in the Trophée des Champions, giving the club this title for the first time in its history.
XEKA – Photo by Bernie Ardoff / ICONSPORT
Unconditional love for the shirt
Although he is no longer an undisputed player in recent years, Xeka has repeatedly proven his connection to LOSC. He was, on the 2021-2022 edition team, the biggest mastiff I’ve ever felt. Off the field, he showed his love for the club and the fans, and did not hesitate to applaud and thank them at the end of the match and as he said in an interview with Lusk. He always sang the club’s anthem before home matches. He was also one of the most visible after the match, and did not reject self-criticism. On the court, he was a player who gave everything tirelessly, a fighter: the mastiff. He totally understood what fans expected. His love for the club and the Lille supporters once again appeared on his face last Saturday, when he was away from the other players, bidding farewell to the stands of Pierre Moroy. Xeka thinks Lil will never forget him and he’s not wrong. As Hassan said: “I’m a Lille fan, it’s my team.” Bye Zika and see you soon!
XEKA – Image credit: IconSport
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