The AS Magenta star has signed on as an amateur and will train and play with the club’s second string side in what is effectively the fifth division of the French game.
His playing contract is part of a wider scholarship that will see him study accountancy and be provided with accommodation at the club’s academy.
The 22-year-old will begin a stint he hopes will turn into a promising career at Stade Lavallois on July 17 and faces a trial period over the first four months before being integrated into the club’s professional squad.
Lolohea began his career with Kiribitr, a club located on the Lifou Islands, before moving to AS Mont-Dore, where he won the national championship. He then transferred to AS Magenta, who he starred for in the 2011 O-League.
Magenta coach Alain Moizan, a former professional and France international, is confident Lolohea has the ability to make it in the professional game but says his success will depend on strength of character.
“César has all the skills to become professional but he needs to impose himself more,” Moizan says.
“Professional clubs look for players with strong personalities who are able to deal with a range of different game situations. A common problem in New Caledonia is that the players are technically good but too shy on the field.”
New Caledonia national coach Christophe Coursimault is delighted to see one of the country’s emerging talents get the opportunity to experience the life of a professional player.
“He can start to play with the reserves and then integrate himself into the first team,” Coursimault says.
“It is very important for César to evolve in a professional environment and to learn and experience the reality of top-level players.”
Lolohea is by no means the first New Caledonian to try his luck in France and does not have to look far to find a fellow player who has been through the experience. Magenta team mate Benjamin Longue headed to France as a 14-year-old to join up with the youth team at Ligue One outfit Bastia and went on to spend three years as a professional with the club, making a handful of appearances in the country’s premier division.
For a brief part of his time at Bastia, Longue played alongside Christian Karembeu, New Caledonia’s most notable footballing export. Lifou native Karembeu enjoyed a glittering 18-year career at the highest level, which included 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000 successes with France, before signing off at Bastia.
Noumea-born duo Frederic Piquionne, a key figure for English club West Ham United, and John Gope-Fenepej, whose former clubs include England’s Bolton Wanderers and French side FC Nantes, are other players with New Caledonian links to have carved out professional careers for themselves.