From Saint Etienne reject and Australian bricklayer to Newcastle United signing, via the USA and French amateur football – the story of Florent Indalecio

The 23-year-old has penned a deal with United until the end of the season, with an opportunity to prove himself worthy of a longer term deal open, should he impress with the club’s under-23 setup.

A friend of Allan Saint-Maximin from their days at AS Saint Etienne, the troubled talent was binned by the Ligue 1 outfit at the age of 15 due to behavioural problems, he then popped up in lower league French football before trying his hand in the US collegiate scene, all to no avail. A recent move to Australia to work as a bricklayer, and play fifth tier football, has eventually brought him a trial with the Magpies – and a chance to earn a potentially life-changing longer deal with United.

In an interview from earlier this year, via actufoot.com, details Indalecio’s journey, in his own words. And it is fair to say, it’s been an eventful, unconventional one.

On his ASSE exit as a ‘rowdy and cheeky student’

“I was recruited by ASSE but it was not going well for me at Tezenas Dumoncel (Groupe Scolaire partner of ASSE).

"I had bad behavior, I was a rowdy and cheeky student. I was fired from the center two weeks before the end of the course.

"The coaches did not want to keep me, football was not enough. I was too young, and at that time I didn’t realize it.”

The tumour which almost ended it all

“I was playing with a knee brace at the time (at Andrézieux), but I didn’t know what I had so I kept practicing.

"I’m not someone who complains a lot so I was dealing with the pain and the X-rays didn’t diagnose anything until the day I did an MRI. I have been diagnosed with a benign knee tumor, something that happens to one in 100,000 people.

"I was plastered for a month and a half with my leg bent. I lost all the muscle, I had to start from scratch once this was done.

"With six months of physiotherapy with two sessions a day, I managed to come back quickly enough. I gained thirteen or fourteen kilos in a year.”

The move to the States

“I’m going through Cote Chaude, l’Etrat and back to Andrézieux. I then leave for Miami for a ‘try out’. These are tests with 200 or 300 players. I was 18 at the time in January 2016 and I had managed to be caught in the fifteen or so successful guys.

"I’m going back to France and the Red Star where my friend Fousseni Diawara was staying allowed me to train with the U19s so that I would be in good shape before going back to Florida.

"Once there, we are in exceptional conditions but I get tendonitis in the knee and I don’t play the first game. Then it was complicated to come back.

"I was only 18 and it was difficult to live. I decided to go back to France overnight. And I signed at Saint-Chamond in DHR which gave me a small fix.”

The year he ‘quit’ football

“I quit football for a year and I started to work. One evening, while on Instagram, I see a former Cuban teammate I met in Miami, Franck Lopez, posts his signature to LA Galaxy with the reserve team.

"My colleague was a good player, but I told myself that if he could have done it, I could too.

"So I’m coming back to soccer in Hauts Lyonnais, and I’m working to save some money for my departure. But I make the mistake of telling the president that I might leave in December. Suddenly, it all went wrong. The coach of the day, Fred Marcon, loved me. But compared to my one-year layoff and the fact that I was going to leave, I only played one match in two or even three.

“Frankly, I didn’t go there to enjoy Los Angeles. I was very determined and showed great things in the friendly matches played while having statistics. But my three goals and two assists weren’t enough to keep me.”

A trip down under

“I didn’t really know what to do, I didn’t have a club anymore. A friend went to Australia to work in construction in the building. I joined him, it was not easy at first. I lived with him, but we had to move quickly and we ended up sleeping on a girl’s sofa for several days.

"I had two weeks to find a job and wanted to try to make a good living. I also joined a company that works in the building industry.

“The season starts in March and I arrived last April. I had to make money so I focused on work. I still tried out NPL2 clubs (3rd division) who wanted to sign me, but my working holiday visa prevented me from doing so. They are only allowed to sign two foreign players and the quotas were already filled.

"They told me to come back the following year but I left that aside to continue my work. It turns out that the brother of my French friend in Australia plays in a club in NPL4 (fifth division) and pushed me to come to train.

"They can sign as many foreign players as they want. So I joined Fraser Park FC, a Portuguese structure in Sydney with a cosmopolitan workforce. We have French, Croats, Argentines, Portuguese… The level is lower but you are better paid than in France while football is not the number one sport in the country.

Indalecio explains what he wants for the future (for earlier in 2020)

“The goal is to pull it all out this year and then sign for a better club. The ideal would be to sign in NPL2 or NPL1.

"I’m not aiming for something crazy, I’d like to pass a at a lower level before dreaming of A-League (Australian first division). You cannot allow yourself to dream without having proven.

"I managed to make a lot of contacts here, former professionals. But I don’t have a video so it’s hard to show off. And it’s not going to be easy because it plays very, very physical with long balls in front then duels. My football is not like that, I will have to adapt to their conception of sport. I would like to be able to climb the ladder in Australian football and obtain resident status or even a ‘visa player’.

“It is all a question of motivation, of determination. I’m trying to motivate a few friends who play in R1 or R2 in France and who would have the level to play in Australia in my opinion.

"I am ready to do everything for them to welcome them as well as possible. Some are not warm to come, I can understand it too since we are 17,000 km from France. These are sacrifices to be made but which can end up paying. Why would it go well for me and not for others?”