Hibs Exclusive: Loan star's journey from street football to Premier League dreams

Myziane Maolida scored 11 goals in less than four months with Hibs. | SNS Group

From the street games in Paris and those early days at the Olympique Lyonnais academy, through to the hell of Hertha Berlin and the unexpected salvation offered by a club called Hibernian, Myziane Maolida understands that his career has witnessed some odd twists and turns. He will forever view his four-month stint at Easter Road as something more than simply a pleasant interlude.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Edinburgh Evening News, the Comoros international repeatedly expresses appreciation – to Nick Montgomery, the Hibs hierarchy and especially the long-suffering supporters – for the way he was embraced and encouraged during his loan spell with the club. The 11 goals he scored hopefully, he says, repaid the faith and kindness shown to him in Scotland.

Not that it was always easy for a French-born footballer who grew up trying to emulate the flicks and tricks of the great Ronaldinho. There was that debut against Rangers at home, the equivalent of being dropped out of a helicopter at 10,000 feet for a winger who hadn’t played any properly competitive football for six months or more. Not to mention the disappointment of failing to drag Hibs into the top six of the Scottish Premiership. And the subsequent sacking of Montgomery.

As he weighs up options from across Europe, however, Maolida – a former 10 million Euro player about to hit his peak footballing years – remains overwhelmingly positive and thankful for his Hibernian adventure, revealing: “I think I had so much success at Hibernian because everyone at the club gave me such a warm welcome. That made me feel good about myself as a footballer.

“The coach and all his staff gave me confidence. I felt so good about them believing in me, that I could just play football and stay focused.

“Nick was very, very important for me. Because he called me before I came to Hibernian, telling me he wanted me in the team.

“I accepted immediately because of him. Because he made it clear how much confidence he had in me. He trusted me, so I said I wanted to come and show I can be a good player, help the team – and show to everybody that I’m still here.

“I was surprised because I had never thought about going to Scotland or playing in the Scottish league. But I knew right away that it was a very good move for me, to play in every game and to show my ability. So when Nick spoke to me and told me the project, I accepted to come and join with them. It was exciting.”

Maolida’s debut, in a threadbare Hibs side trampled by Rangers in a 3-0 loss at Easter Road, didn’t exactly augur well. He was miles off the pace of the Scottish Premiership. But Montgomery knew that the only way to get his new signing up to speed was to throw him in at the deep end.

“Nick just told me to play,” said the former Nice and Lyon prospect. "He knew I wasn’t really fit because I had played for six months with the second team of Hertha Berlin. It’s not the same intensity.

“That first game against Rangers was really difficult because of the intensity. The tempo of the game was very high. I was not ready.

“But the manager understood this, and I understood it. I knew I would get better and better with every game, become fitter and stronger.”

Figuring out exactly why Maolida spent half a season languishing in the Hertha B squad, playing in the fourth tier Regionalliga North East, involves tackling his failure to settle in Berlin. And his now non-existent relationship with head coach Pal Dardai, who described the forward as “lazy” before exiling him from the first team.

Maolida, asked what had gone wrong in Germany, admitted: “I think sometimes it’s difficult to explain. When you don’t feel good in some place, it’s difficult to show your quality, to work hard every day.

“At Hertha, I found it very difficult because the coach said directly, at the beginning of the season, that he didn’t want me. That made things hard for me, so I had to go and look for a new club.

“I was just so happy to have this loan with Hibernian because it was important for my football education. And I tried to help them as much as possible, to contribute to the team.”

When you see a player like Maolida in full flow, tormenting defenders and making the game look ridiculously easy, it’s tempting to think that he was always that way. The best kid in the street. The one who was definitely going to make it.

Taking himself back to his Parisian childhood, the 25-year-old admits that he was a very definite football obsessive. But one who understood just how hard it would be even to get noticed by major clubs in France, a country not exactly short of elite young talents.

“Being a footballer was a dream for me,” said Maolida. “I played everywhere, on the street, outside, anywhere we could play. But I knew I had to be patient.

“I loved football, that was what I wanted to do. When I was growing up, my goal was to become a professional football. Step by step, I made that journey.

“But in the beginning, it was just a passion. A passion for the game, an enjoyment in playing, making skill moves, making passes … Those games in the street taught me a lot. I learned first in the street because I would just go outside with my ball, try to be like Ronaldo or Ronaldinho, try to do the same.

“Step by step, I became better. And it led to me becoming a professional footballer. But it started on the street, where I just loved to play.

“I was 16 when I went to Lyon, which was difficult because you leave all your family. You go to another city. But I was very impatient, very determined, focused on doing my best, working hard to make the first team of Lyon.

“In France, it’s very difficult just to break through. We have a lot of talent, so it’s difficult to show your quality and demonstrate that you can be a good professional. I was very happy to be in the best academy in France.”

That grounding is one of the reasons, of course, why Hertha feel confident in landing a buyer – or at least a loan club willing to cover 90 per cent of salary costs – for a player of obvious pedigree. His time at Hibs definitely put him back on the radar.

Insisting he’s “still waiting” for his agent to present him with concrete options, Maolida admitted he has his eyes set on one particular destination, explaining: “The Premier League, for me, is the best league in the world. I want to play there. But it’s not just up to me!

“Maybe playing in Scotland will help. I hope my loan was a good thing for me, and I will have some options to go to a big club and play many games, score goals. And I hope my time in Scotland was also good for Hibs.”