There is a quiet confidence running through Troyes this season, one built on patience rather than proclamation. As reported by L’Equipe, Edwin Pindi may insist that “seventeen matchdays are both short and long,” yet history suggests that leading Ligue 2 at the halfway stage carries weight. Over the last twelve seasons, autumn champions have been promoted eleven times, eight of them as title winners. Only Brest in 2016 to 2017 bucked the trend.
Still, caution defines Troyes’ approach. Pindi is careful not to be swept away by momentum, admitting, “To be perfectly frank, it’s a very difficult league, anything can still happen. We’re sticking to our strategy from the start of the season, which is to try and win the next match. We had a good first half of the season and now the pressure will be on.” This measured outlook feels central to the club’s renewed stability.
Long term planning under City Football Group
Since City Football Group became majority shareholder in September 2020, Troyes have lived through football’s extremes. Promotion to Ligue 1 in 2021 was followed by relegation two years later and then a brush with the National league in 2024, only avoiding disaster due to Bordeaux’s struggles. What makes the current campaign notable is its sense of continuity rather than upheaval.
“There’s a lot of talk about the start of the season, but the work began well before that,” Pindi explains. “2025 was a quality year, I look at the whole year, there’s real continuity, we took 61 points (35 of which came in the second half). It’s a long term project. We’re doing it with fluidity and humility. In football, you win matches, you lose matches, but you need consistency. What’s satisfying is that the professional team is at the forefront, but it’s the whole club that’s working, with many positive things happening.”
This reads as a blueprint rather than rhetoric. Troyes are not chasing instant rewards, instead aligning first team progress with academy development.
Youth academy produces standout talents
L’Equipe highlights how the academy has become central to Troyes’ resurgence. A French U17 championship title in the spring set the tone, while young players such as Anis Ouzenadji, Roman Murcy, Amadou Diakité, Noah Donkor and Sankhoun Diawara are now contributing at senior level.
Among them, Mathys Detourbet stands tallest. At 18, the left winger has become one of Ligue 2’s revelations, making 29 appearances and scoring his first professional goal in the Coupe de France at the end of November. That moment was swiftly followed by being named Troyes’ Player of the Month. Contracted until 2028, his progress has not gone unnoticed.
Photo: IMAGO
European interest and City temptation
Interest is gathering pace. AS Roma remain attentive after offering €10 million last summer, German clubs are monitoring the situation, and AS Monaco may act swiftly this winter. The player himself, a local product, would prefer to stay until the end of the season, where he was raised and developed.
Yet the most intriguing line from L’Equipe is this, “But Manchester City, the flagship of the City Group, is also reportedly tempted to bring this highly promising youngster to the north of England.” It speaks to the internal dynamics of multi club ownership, where pathways can extend beyond national borders.
Detourbet embodies Pindi’s vision, summed up in his words, “Our role is to develop a local project, and the advantage we have is having a shareholder who is supportive in all aspects of the club, not just the sporting side.” Whether that support ultimately leads him to the Premier League remains the question.
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For Manchester City supporters, this report feels like a familiar chapter in the club’s evolving recruitment model. City fans have grown accustomed to seeing emerging talent identified early, nurtured patiently, and assessed with long term thinking rather than urgency. Detourbet fits that profile neatly.
The appeal lies less in immediate first team impact and more in strategic depth. Supporters understand that not every signing is meant to walk straight into Pep Guardiola’s matchday plans. Some are investments in potential, others are future assets within the wider City Football Group network. The line from L’Equipe that City are “tempted to bring this highly promising youngster to the north of England” will excite those who value succession planning.
There is also respect for Troyes’ role in this story. City fans tend to appreciate when partner clubs benefit rather than being stripped bare. Allowing Detourbet to remain until the end of the season would align with that philosophy. If and when he arrives in Manchester, supporters will likely view him as a symbol of a system working as intended, local development meeting global opportunity.