2021-2022-Season

AS WELCOMES into English football go, a packed Goodison Park is a good sign of what to expect. Ramped up that extra notch by the fact last weekend represented the first time stadia had been full in the Premier League for around 18 months, playing in front of more than 30,000 raucous Evertonians was what greeted Saints new-boy Romain Perraud. The 23-year-old, who has visited England to watch Premier League matches from the stands before, got his first taste of the action on the pitch, named in Ralph Hasenhuttl's starting line-up for the season opener. Inside the old-school English venue, left-back Perraud, who had spent his whole playing career in France prior to this move to Saints, was quickly engaged in a battle with wily campaigners Seamus Coleman and Andros Townsend down the flank. It was not to be a dream debut for Perraud, as he and Saints fell to a 3-1 defeat. But the trip to Merseyside was still one to remember for the former Nice and Brest man. Perraud told the Daily Echo: "For me, it was my first game here. I feel good. I think it was a very emotional moment for me, for everybody because the fans returned in the stadium. "It was very amazing. The game, we lost, but for a first game I think it was good. "I’ve been here for six or seven weeks. I feel good. "Here is the best championship in the world. I need to improve, I need to progress, but I feel good because the club is good. Everybody helped me to integrate collectively." As for settling into English life, Toulouse-born Perraud added: "When I arrived I was with my father, so I did my quarantine with my father. "After, my girlfriend came. But she is working in France, so sometimes she comes, sometimes she goes back to France. "But it’s okay. For example for one or two weeks I am alone, then after my girlfriend comes, also my father and my mother. It’s good. "I was in England three years ago and four years ago. Every time during Christmas. "I like the culture. I like the country. I like the football here. "When I came I was in London and I watched many games, like Crystal Palace v Arsenal I remember, Tottenham v Chelsea. So it was very good. I like the passion here." Having come up through the youth ranks at Nice, whilst former Saints boss Claude Puel was in charge of the first team, Perraud was handed his senior debut by the man who replaced Puel at the helm, renowned coach Lucien Favre. He played in a Europa League dead rubber against Krasnodar in December 2016. Perraud played twice more in that competition the following season, alongside some familiar faces to English football fans in Mario Balotelli and Allan Saint-Maximin. A loan move to Paris FC in the second tier followed, before he left Nice altogether in 2019 after discussions with new boss Patrick Vieira. After two strong seasons at Brest, the first of which he played alongside Saints midfielder Ibrahima Diallo, Perraud made the big switch across the Channel. "I was in the academy in Nice so I know Allan Saint-Maximin and I know Mario Balotelli," said Perraud. "For me it was good, because I was young and Nice was a great team with great players. "But after you can’t compare the French league and the Premier League, for me. Because it is not the same players, it is not the same intensity. "Ligue 1 was a good championship, but here I think the difference is every team is competitive. It’s not the same level." Signing early in the transfer window allowed Perraud a full pre-season with his new team-mates. That included a week in Wales, where the Frenchman showed off his other sporting skills, specifically table tennis. "Here I know that people love golf or cricket," said Perraud. "But I have never played golf. "I like rugby, because my father was a coach in a rugby league, in France’s first division. I like tennis, I like NBA. "(In Wales) I think the manager was not there when I played (table tennis). "I played against Oriol (Romeu), against Che Adams, Mikey (Obafemi) and Moi Elyounoussi. "It was a good tournament and good moment for us."