What is the secret of the sudden change in Yassine Adly’s position towards the Algerian national team? | sports

Yassin Adly, the current Saudi Al-Shabab club midfielder, announced his clear desire to represent the Algerian national team, retracting positions and fiery statements he had previously made in which he repeatedly stressed that “France is his only option.”

The new statement of the young player, who graduated from the Paris Saint-Germain academy, played for a period in Milan, and this season moved to Al-Shabab Al-Saudi, brought to mind his previous statements in which he refused to play for Algeria.

In March 2024, during a press conference with his former team AC Milan, Adly said clearly: “I want to play at the highest level, so it is self-evident that my goal is the French national team.”

He followed this with a post on his social media accounts in which he said: “I have dignity and I am a man of my word, and the doors of Algeria were closed with these statements of mine.”

Last September, Adly once again closed the door on joining the Desert Warriors, insisting on his previous position.

In an interview with the newspaper “L’Equipe”, despite his move to the Saudi League, Adly insisted on his position, saying: “I declared my goal to represent France and I will not back down from it, whether I play in Europe or Saudi Arabia. This stems from my respect for Algeria.” When he was asked: “Is it impossible to accept Algeria’s invitation?” He answered with a categorical “no.”

But Adly surprised everyone during an interview with the “Sport Team” website by describing his previous words as “nonsense,” and admitted that he had misjudged matters, citing the case of Issa Diop, who changed his sporting nationality to represent Morocco at the age of 29 after years of waiting for an invitation from the French national team.

Adly said: “I previously said that I would not change my mind, but that was nonsense. People change, and Diop joining Morocco inspired me. I love my country, Algeria, and my greatest sporting joys are linked to them, especially the 2010 epic. Maybe I can contribute to the national team. I have no ego now.”

In this context, the newspaper “L’Equipe” said that despite Adly’s “flirtation” and his phone contact with his former coach and current Algeria coach, Vladimir Petkovic, his path to wearing the national team shirt is not strewn with roses.

She pointed out that there is widespread anger prevailing in the Algerian sports street. Adly is seen as an “opportunist” trying to catch the 2026 World Cup train after losing hope of representing France, according to the newspaper’s description.

As for specialists, they believe that the decline in the player’s marketing value and his transfer to a club in the lower positions in the Saudi League raises questions about his ability to provide a technical addition to a midfield that includes committed and stable talents.