#B04imSchwarzwald: From Guadeloupe to a double winning club in four years

Belocian comes from Les Abymes in Guadeloupe. The island is in the Eastern Caribbean not far from Barbados, Martinique and St Lucia and has a population of around 395,000. What most people only know as a holiday destination is home to Jeanuël Belocian. "It's wonderful there. The sun always shines and there are so many beautiful beaches – you should all go on holiday there," joked the new signing of the start of the interview. He learned to play football in the youth teams at the Association des Jeunes de Castel and Stade Lamentinois in Guadeloupe. "But you can't compare it to the facilities over here. There are no academies or performance centres there. It's all about having fun but at some point it's difficult to improve your own performance levels. A lot of clubs from France therefore scout for young talent on the islands. That's what happened to me."

Belocian: "I've come to win"

The big step forward came in 2020. Belocian moved to Europe aged just 15 to join the youth set-up at Stade Rennes. And then everything went really quickly: A year later he played for the reserve team at the French club for the first time. The defender made his debut for the first team in Ligue 1 in March 2022 and in the summer he won the U17 European Championships with France. In November of the same year he made his debut in Europe in the group stage of the Europa League. And now Belocian is here at Bayer 04. "I've come here to continue on my path, to improve, to win games and perhaps even trophies," said the 19-year-old. Asked about his development, he answered with confidence and maturity: "Leaving home was not a tough step for me because I was ready to carry on developing and to keep learning. It was always my dream to become a professional footballer. It was my chance and I wanted to take it."

Jeanuël was not the first in his family to make their way to Europe. Two of his three brothers live in London and Paris. The third is in Jamaica. His older brother Wilhem Belocian is an athlete. The 29-year-old qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and also for the 2020 games in Tokyo in his event of the 110-metres hurdles. So there is ambition in the family.

Belocian: "special atmosphere at Leverkusen"

In the first friendly of the new season at Rot-Weiss Essen last Friday (2-1) Jeanuël Belocian made his first appearance for the Werkself in the starting X1. "I was relaxed. I'm never nervous in games. I enjoy being able to play football every time." His teammates made it very easy for him, explained midfielder: "I had a really warm reception from the first day – from all the players, physios and the staff. Above all Eddi, Boni, Odi and Amine (Edmond Tapsoba, Victor Boniface, Odilon Kossounou, Amine Adli, ed.) have helped me find my feet quickly. On the pitch, we're all focused as a team and then we can have a laugh together. There's a special atmosphere at Leverkusen."

His parents will visit him in Germany from August to October. They still live at home in Guadeloupe. He hasn't seen them for several weeks. Before that his parents are going to watch his big brother in the Olympic Games in Paris. Wilhem Belocian is in the 110-metre hurdles on Sunday 4 August. When Jeanuël Belocian thinks about that he admits to being a little nervous...