Anaïs Ebayilin: "It was a very easy decision to make"
Women's football•
The France international speaks to PSG TV about her recent contract extension and her aims with Paris Saint-Germain.
Anaïs, congratulations on your contract extension! What are your initial feelings?
"Thank you! First of all, it's a dream come true because I've always wanted to be here and to wear the Paris Saint-Germain shirt. Knowing that my time here is set to continue and that the club trusts me will help me to play with even more freedom; extending my stay at Paris Saint-Germain is an honour."
What does Paris Saint-Germain mean to you?
"I feel a lot of pride and a lot of love for the club, which has welcomed me and my family. We're really happy to be staying here. Every morning, I'm going to give 100% to my education, to monitoring my progress and to everything else that I need to do both on and off the pitch in order to win games because that's the most important thing. It hasn't been easy to pick up the torch from my parents. Paris has seen me cry, has seen me grow and has even told me off, but Paris has accepted me for who I am, so it's an honour for me to stay at such a big club, and I'd like to thank the club for everything that it has given me."
What drove you to make this choice?
"My team! It hasn't been easy, but we've created something really beautiful, which is our squad. That will help us to turn our attentions to the new season and to focus on the here and now. The club's project also made me want to stay. Above all, though, I love Paris Saint-Germain, so it was a natural choice and a very easy decision to make, and it's now up to me to perform well in order to show the club that it made the right decision to get me to sign this new contract."
You're now a kind of role model for the young girls at the club's academy...
"Showing that I'm here is important. I grew up here and am aiming to do big things with Paris Saint-Germain, so I hope that that's an example for the young girls who are here and who might go on to sign a professional contract here. The club is showing that it places huge importance in young players."
Is that an added source of pressure?
"For me, it's not an added source of pressure but rather a show of confidence. I can feel that an enormous amount of trust has been placed in me, and I think that every player needs to feel safe at their club in order to perform as well as possible."
Finally, how are you approaching this new season?
"We need to try to win trophies and to compete with the biggest clubs. We're a big club, too, so we're duty-bound to perform well. That's what we plan to do in every competition this year, with the aim of winning them all."
