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Date of Birth: Friday, June 13, 1980
Birth Place: France
Height: 184cm
Position: Midfielder
Former Clubs/Teams: Olympique Marseille, EA Guingamp

Biography

Florent Malouda is a winger for France and Chelsea in the English Premier League. He can play anywhere across the forward line, though is at his most effective when he is rampaging down the left-hand flank, beating his man and crossing to the strikers. He is good with both feet, allowing him to vary his play between cutting inside the defenders to shoot with his right foot and staying wide to cross with his left foot.

Childhood

Florent Malouda was born on 13th June 1980, in Cayenne in French Guiana. As a former French colony, Malouda’s family were able to move to mainland France. The hours spent playing football with his friends and family paid off for him as he was taken on the books of Chateauroux’s academy. He signed his first professional contract on leaving school, aged just 16.

Early Career

Malouda’s made his first-team debut for top division Chateauroux when he was just 16 years old, but it was another two years on the very fringes of the squad before he was given a regular spot – mainly because he wasn’t strong enough to play against experience and battle-hardened full-backs.

Chateauroux suffered relegation in 1997/98, which saw some of their best players leave the club. The coach opted to put his faith in the club’s youngsters, and Malouda was given a starting spot on the left wing. Some impressive performances, and five goals in 56 games, prompted Guingamp to gamble on the young Frenchman.

Three seasons at Guingamp, where he played alongside Didier Drogba, saw Malouda grow as a player – in his last season he was their key player, creating many chances and scoring 10 himself. It was this form that led to a big-money move to French League champions Lyon, when he was just 23 years old.

Lyon went on to win another four consecutive titles, with Malouda making himself one of the first names on the team-sheet. His hard-working game and ability to create chances out of nothing ensured that he was watched very closely by other top European clubs. It was his stellar performances for France and in the Champions League that saw Liverpool, Real Madrid and Chelsea vying for his signature.

Current Club

Florent Malouda arrived at Chelsea on July 9th 2007, and was one of Jose Mourinho’s key summer signings. He was to compete with Arjen Robben and Shaun Wright-Phillips for the two winger spaces in the Special One’s team. With the added competition, Robben became concerned about lack of first-team opportunities, engineering a move to Real Madrid instead, and Malouda was installed as first-choice left winger.

Florent struggled to adapt to the pace of the English game, and took his fair share of knocks from uncompromising defenders whilst he got to grips with it. Malouda wasn’t playing to his full potential, and Chelsea finished runners-up in the Premier League and Champions League.

New coach Felipe Scolari identified the need to get more out of Malouda when he took over in the summer of 2008, and the Frenchman paid off this faith with some important goals.

International

Malouda had pushed for a place in the French national side throughout his time at Guingamp, but it was only after he had moved to champions Lyon that he received his first call-up. He debuted against Poland in November 2004, and went on to become a key player for France on the left-side of midfield. He was in the starting eleven as France were defeated in the 2006 World Cup Final, winning a penalty early on to help France take the lead. At Euro 2008 he was one of the team’s senior players, and battled hard as France struggled.