Jeremy Mathieu

Jeremy Mathieu (born 29 October 1983) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or a left-back for Regional 2 club Luynes Sports.

Mathieu made 172 Ligue 1 appearances across seven seasons, split equally between Sochaux and Toulouse. He played five seasons in La Liga with Valencia before joining Barcelona in 2014, where he won the treble in his first season.

An international for France from 2011 to 2016, Mathieu was selected in the squad to represent France at UEFA Euro 2016 but dropped out with injury.

Club Career

Sochaux

Born in Luxeuil-les-Bains, Haute-Saone, Mathieu started his career with the biggest club in the Franche-Comte region, Sochaux. When he was 16 AC Milan was interested in signing him, but Sochaux's coach Jean Fernandez advised him to stay because mentally he still wasn't strong enough.

He made his Ligue 1 debut, during the 2002–03 season, in a league match against Sedan coming on as a late-match substitute. Despite being 18, he was inserted into the starting 11, and quickly provided an impact scoring his first professional goal in just his third league match in a 2–2 draw against Stade Rennais. He made 23 league appearances that season scoring four goals, which included an equalising goal against Paris Saint-Germain, and two game-winning goals against Nantes and Le Havre. His play, along with the team itself, was a main factor in the club finishing 5th and qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

Over the next two seasons, Mathieu continued his great form appearing in 63 league matches and scoring six league goals. He also performed well in Europe appearing in 14 matches and scoring two goals. He also helped Sochaux win the Coupe de la Ligue in 2004. His performances at Sochaux led to strong interest from Italian club Juventus, English clubs Newcastle United, Everton, and Southampton.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Жереми Матьё (russian)