Failed Wonderkid #19- Jimmy Briand

Biodata

Full Name: Jimmy Briand

Nationality: French

Date of Birth: 2 August 1985

Position: Winger, Striker

Current Club: Bordeaux

Current Market Price: 2.00mil Euro (Updated on Dec 2019)

Highest Market Price: 9.00mil Euro (Dec 2010)

Former Clubs:

2002- 2005 Rennes B

2002- 2010 Rennes

2010- 2014 Lyon

2014- 2015 Hannover 96

2015- 2018 Guingamp

International Career:

2008- 2012 France

Achievement:

Lyon

2011- 2012 Coupe de France

2012- 2013 Trophee des Champions

Career

France national team is always blessed with the attacking options throughout their football history. From Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine in the 1950s to Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe in the recent squad. The continuous development of top-class attackers in French football also means that there will be some unfortunate ones who have the quality to perform but often outshone by the other talented ones in the same batch of players. This is exactly the story of Jimmy Briand.

Jimmy Briand started his football career in the French lower league side US Ivry and CSF Bretigny. At the age of 15, he was selected to attend the INF Clairefontaine. This is the French football academy that produced a bunch of football talents such as Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry and Kylian Mbappe. A year later, Briand joined Rennes youth setup after he completed his stint at INF Clairefontaine. He made his league debut against Paris Saint Germain in May 2003 where he replaced Alex Frei for the last 20 minutes. However, he is still used sparingly in his next two seasons in Rennes.

Briand finally had his breakout campaign in the 2005-2006 season as he played 40 games in all competitions and scored 5 goals in the process at the age of 20. His goals contributions had helped Rennes to a seventh-place finish and reaching the semi-final in Coupe de France. His performance had improved in the next season as he registered 9 goals and 6 assists in 35 league games which helped Rennes finished fourth in the league. Briand’s 2007-2008 season wasn’t bad either. He scored 8 goals and 6 assists in 47 matches in all competition. This youngster finally has shown a glimpse of his potential in these two seasons.

Despite the attention from the European major clubs. Briand decided to stay at Rennes for the following season. He got his first national team call-up on October 2008 and got his first international cap in a match against Romania, where he replaced Franck Ribery in the last minute of the game. Briand goal scoring form was still impressive where he scored 12 goals and 6 assists in the 2008-2009 season. However, things turn to a sour note as Briand suffered the anterior cruciate ligament injury that caused him sidelined for six months. Luckily, he still managed to pick up his goalscoring form as he registered 5 goals and 10 assists in 23 league games.

On June 2010, Briand finally got his move to a bigger club. He joined Lyon in a four-year contract with a transfer fee of 7.4million Euros. He scored 8 goals and 7 assists in all competition in his debut season in Lyon. Briand still steadily contributes to Lyon in terms of goals and assists to help Lyon to consecutive top-five finishes in every season when he played for the club. However, his goal contribution wasn’t as good as the likes of Bafetimbi Gomis and Lisandro Lopez in the squad. The emergence of Alexandre Lacazette caused more damage to Briand’s playing time in Lyon. Therefore, Briand decided to move abroad to join Hannover 96 in August 2014.

Briand is the main man in the Hannover 96 attacking line alongside Lars Stindl, Joselu and Hiroshi Kiyotake. However, his three goals and eight assists only managed to help Hannover 96 to barely escape relegation as they finished 13th place in the Bundesliga, two points above the relegation playoff spot. One season later, Briand returned to Ligue 1. This time, he joined EA Guingamp in a free. It is in EA Guingamp that Briand enjoyed the renaissance of his footballing career. In his debut season with the French minnows, Briand’s 7 goals and 7 assists had helped EA Guingamp to escape relegation, finishing 16th in Ligue 1 with 5 points above the relegation zone.

It was the second season in EA Guingamp that Briand truly shone. Briand’s 13 goals and 6 assists that helped this French minnows to a tenth place finish and semi-final in Coupe de France. Briand continued his fine form in EA Guingamp as his 11 goals and 2 assists had helped EA Guingamp to a twelfth place finish in the league. He is also the top scorer in the club for both of the two seasons in EA Guingamp. Despite his contributions in EA Guingamp, Briand was released by the club and had a ‘moral agreement’ that he would not join another Ligue 1 club.

With this agreement placed between the club and player, Briand initially secured a tentative deal to join Montreal Impact in Major League Soccer. However, the deal fell through and he signed for Bordeaux on a two-year contract instead. In his Bordeaux stint, he is still the main goal contributor for the team. He becomes the second player to score in 15 different Ligue 1 seasons in the 21st century when he scored the equaliser against his former club, Lyon in August 2019. Still playing in Bordeaux at the age of 35, Briand is still firing Bordeaux attack before he decides to hang up his boots.

Verdict

Disappointment Rate: 6.5/10. Unlike some other failed wonderkids in this series, Briand is more on the unlucky side. He has the ability to be one of the top players in his nation. However, there are some better-attacking options such as Karim Benzema, Franck Ribery and even Hatem Ben Arfa that have beaten Briand to his spot. Moreover, injuries had ruined his career to a certain degree as well. Therefore, it is still disappointing as things do not work on his way in his footballing career.

#Briand #Rennes #Lyon #Guingamp #Bordeaux