Former Liverpool and France striker Djibril Cisse is planning to come out of retirement in a bid to reach 100 Ligue 1 goals, offering to play for free to do so. The 38-year-old has scored 96 times in Ligue 1, for Auxerre, Marseille, and Bastia, and he is not pleased that he finished his career so close to the 100 goal milestone. Cisse originally retired in 2015 due to injury but returned to play in the third tier of Swiss football in 2017, where he scored 24 goals in 29 games for Yverdon, proving he still had it at some level. He has not played a match since 2018 but is now eyeing up a return to the French top flight in a bid to bag the four goals he desires.
‘At the start, it was almost a joke,’ Cisse told L’Equipe. ‘But little by little, it really became a wish. ‘I have always said that passing the 100-goal mark was something very important to me. Being four goals away bothers me. ‘If it doesn’t happen, at least I would have tried and I could close the book of 100 goals, but until I try everything, I won’t be at peace. ‘You have to see this as a bet, as an additional player in the workforce and not as an element that can play 90 minutes. Even I can’t lie to myself to that extent, but I can still contribute.’
At 38 and having not played in Ligue 1 since 2015, Cisse recognizes that he might not be the most preferred choice for clubs with much ambition, but he has offered to play for free just so he can chase his dream. ‘You know how it is with goalscorers,’ Cisse told SoFoot. ‘We love goals, we love hitting milestones; 25, 50, 75… for me, it’s the landmark of 100 that haunts me, I’ve been stuck on 96 since I stopped. ‘I am missing four goals and it gets to me, it drives me crazy! ‘I want to come back to Ligue 1 to get them. If a club takes me, I can get them in two or three months.
I’m ready to come back and play for free, without pay, so there isn’t much of a risk for them. For the moment, I’m not in advanced talks with anybody but I hope that clubs will appear.’ Cisse, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005 and picked up 41 caps for France, is yet to receive an offer.
323