Lorient's 32‑second slip still haunts Lucas Da Cunha
In the cramped offices of FC Lorient, a printer sputtered as a transfer file was sent 32 seconds after the summer window shut, leaving a dejected Lucas Da Cunha watching his dream slip away just hours before his first France cap against Belgium in the Nations League, a moment that now fuels his rise in the public eye.
Near‑miss in September 2022
The midfielder, who was 21 in the summer of 2022, was then on the books of OGC Nice but had featured in only eleven brief appearances since arriving two years earlier. A six‑month loan to Clermont Foot saw him play around fifteen matches, catching the eye of the Merlus and their newly appointed coach Régis Le Bris at the start of the 2022‑23 season.
Technical glitch seals the deal
“It was the start of Régis Le Bris. There was a desire to recruit young, technical players. We had signed Adil Aouchiche and Chrislain Matsima. Lucas fit those criteria,” explained a Lorient executive to. Yet the club’s hurried paperwork arrived 32 seconds after the transfer deadline, and, as the executive added, “Nice lost the timing that evening – it seems they had no ink cartridges in the printer.”
The delay meant the Ligue de Football Professionnel could not register Da Cunha’s arrival, and Nice subsequently refused to release him under the original conditions. Instead, Guingamp’s Yoann Cathline moved to the department, leaving Lorient empty‑handed.
Silver linings for the player
Da Cunha later discovered the Champions League with Como and earned his France debut under new manager Zinédine Zidane. “He was disgusted not to sign at FC Lorient,” the Breton representative recalled, but added that the missed move forced the player to grow, mature and prove his legitimacy at the highest level – a claim supported by his current performances.
FC Lorient’s own campaign was not derailed; the club finished a respectable tenth place in May 2023. That season also saw the emergence of local talent Enzo Le Fée, a Sunderland midfielder who was recently pre‑selected by Zidane.
“Zidane chose Lucas over Enzo, but they play in a similar style. Enzo could also claim a France place,” the Lorient official said, hinting that a future Enzo call‑up might finally let the Merlus “swallow the pill” of the aborted Da Cunha transfer.