There’s always the danger when you become a famous professional footballer, that a former schoolmate is going to try and make a quick buck by lifting the lid on your previous misdemeanours. And to be fair, although these revelations are pretty harmless, they do make for an entertaining read despite causing the player in question some distress.
The Daily Telegraph report that William Gallas has once again found himself in the headlines for the wrong reasons, with Paris St Germain midfielder Jerome Rothen revealing that the Arsenal captain was a ‘no-hoper’ in school, not to mention a bit of a thief. It appears that the defender isn’t the brightest star in the galaxy, regularly being found out by teachers and classmates alike.
“I don’t think William Gallas will mind me talking about how he used to be a no-hoper.
“At school he was a right wally – he would sit at the back of the class as far away from the blackboard as possible.
“One day the maths teacher gave us a test – she knew that William understood nothing about maths, so she allowed him to use the textbook. But even with the book under his nose he still only got four out of 20!”
In his book – ‘You’re Not Going To Believe Me’ – Rothen also recalls the occasion when a youthful Gallas stole from another trainee.
He wrote: “One evening, Eric Sitruk burst into my room and shouted, ‘Someone has stolen my bank card and taken out 1,500 francs (£150)’.
“Furious, he accused five of us. It made sense because we were all very close, we had the keys to each other’s rooms and knew the codes to our bank cards so we could lend each other money. Next evening, Eric said he had gone to the bank and a surveillance camera had filmed the person using the card.
“He said, ‘I know who is guilty’. It was a bluff. But an hour later, William knocked on his door and admitted his mistake.”
These comments don’t appear to have sat too well with Gallas, who is sure to have a few stern words for Rothen when the pair next meet. Perhaps the former should be flattered that he’s famous enough to be so readily name-dropped, although this follows closely on the back of the Arsenal skipper admitting that he’s struggling for form at the moment.
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