Player Profile: Laurent Blanc

Laurent Blanc

Laurent Blanc was born in Ales in Languedoc-Roussillon and spent the first years of his foot­ball career play­ing for Mont­pel­lier before he left for Napoli in 1991. He returned to his home­land the fol­low­ing sea­son, how­ever, when he joined forces with Nimes Olym­pique where he notched up 29 league out­ings dur­ing the 1992–93 campaign.

Laurent Blanc even­tu­ally furthered his soc­cer career by first mov­ing to Saint Etienne and then Aux­erre, enjoy­ing great suc­cess at both clubs. As his fame spread, the tal­en­ted and ver­sat­ile defender was signed by Bar­celona for a trans­fer fee of £4 mil­lion at the start of the 1996–1997 sea­son. After a com­par­at­ively short spell at the Nou Camp, Blanc was then brought to Olym­pique de Mar­seille by man­ager Rolland Cour­bis for an estim­ated trans­fer fee of £2 mil­lion in August 1997. The French­man later appeared for Serie A side Inter Milan before he finally signed with reign­ing league cham­pi­ons Manchester United in the sum­mer of 2001. While with Manchester United, the seasoned cam­paigner clocked up 48 league appear­ances for The Reds and went on to win the Eng­lish Premier League in 2002-03. A ded­ic­ated and com­mit­ted per­former, Blanc made his inter­na­tional senior debut for his nat­ive France in a goal­less draw against the Repub­lic of Ire­land at Dalymount Park in Feb­ru­ary 1989. The massive centre half pro­ceeded to play 97 matches for his coun­try and he was a mem­ber of the legendary French team that won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Cham­pi­on­ship in 2000. Fol­low­ing a highly suc­cess­ful mana­gerial stint with Bor­deaux, Blanc was appoin­ted coach of the French national team in 2010.

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