Bastien Héry insists he only has something to prove to himself as he begins the new season with his sixth club in Ireland in five years.
Since joining Limerick in 2017, Héry has played for Waterford, Linfield, Bohemians and Derry (on loan) before joining Finn Harps in the pre-season.
Well settled in Dublin, Héry went back to France for a holiday at Christmas to see his daughter and, while there, Ollie Horgan called him.
"Ollie's a big character," grinned Héry. "He said, 'Bastien, if you are interested in joining I will come and meet you tomorrow in Paris'.
"It was funny. I had a chat with him and we were both happy."
The midfielder is keen to put 2021 behind him. He made only five appearances for Bohs and nine on
"I really enjoyed my time at Linfield, the previous season," he said. "It's just last year was really tough for me.
"I didn't have much game time. It was tricky. I really enjoyed Derry but I was with the national team (Madagascar) a lot.
"It was stop and start, I didn't get time to have a run of games, but I'm happy where I am now.
"I want to enjoy my football again. I want to show people I'm still here. That's down to me to do it now.
"I have got something to prove to myself. I don't care about what people think about me, it's for myself.
"That's what motivates me. As a player, you don't want to say to yourself you're finished, you want to keep going and to be relevant.
"You've got ups and downs but you want to go again and show to yourself you can do it."
What he wants now is to put down some roots at the club. He makes the long trip with Dave Webster, his former Waterford colleague.
"At the start it was like, 'whoa, what am I doing here' but after a few weeks it was fine," Héry said.
"I would love to stay three, four or five years.
"It's tricky, though. You get a 42 week contract, and it's something I didn't know before I came to Ireland, how players move around so much between clubs every year.
"I'd love to stay somewhere for a few years, 100%. I'm not old, I'll play football until my body shuts down."
The bonding process is vital, says Héry, and he admits it will take some more time for Harps to be a cohesive force.
Harps, however, will be straight into a battle tonight with Drogheda, one of their rivals in the fight for top flight survival.
"When you haven't played with team-mates before, you need to know what to say, at what time and how to say it," he stressed.
"We'll get there. We know it's going to be a fight. We just have to get ready for that.
"We can stay in the Premier Division, but it will be tough."
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