Jérémy Mathieu

Jérémy Mathieu

Personal information
Full name	Jérémy Mathieu
Date of birth	29 October 1983 (1983-10-29)
Place of birth	Luxeuil-les-Bains, France
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Left back
Club information
Current club	Valencia
Number	22
Youth career
2000–2002	Sochaux
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2005	Sochaux	86	(10)
2005–2009	Toulouse	113	(5)
2009–	Valencia	51	(2)
National team‡
2000–2001	France U18	7	(0)
2001–2002	France U19	3	(1)
2002–2006	France U21	6	(2)
2011–	France	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 September 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 November 2011

Jérémy Mathieu (born 29 October 1983 in Luxeuil-les-Bains) is a French football player who currently plays for La Liga side Valencia CF in Spain. He primarily operates in the left back position, but can also play as a winger on the same side. He can also, in some situations, play as a defensive midfielder.

Career

Sochaux

Jérémy started his career with the biggest club in the Franche-Comté region, FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. He made his Ligue 1 debut, during the 2002–03 season, in a league match against CS 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 Rennes. He made 23 league appearances that season scoring 4 goals, which included, excluding his first, 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, Jérémy continued his great form appearing in 63 league matches and scoring 6 league goals. He also performed well in Europe appearing in 14 matches and scoring 2 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.

Move to Toulouse

After announcing his desire to move to another club and only having one year left on his current deal, Sochaux agreed to listen to offers for the player. Eventually, he agreed to join Toulouse after agreeing to a four-year deal. He made his league debut for Toulouse against his former club Sochaux playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 victory. He continued this positive play appearing in 36 league matches and scoring two goals against AC Ajaccio and Troyes. The following season, he made 32 league appearances and score another two goals helping Toulouse qualify for the UEFA Champions League. However, both Mathieu and Toulouse had horrible 2007–08 seasons with Mathieu fracturing a bone in his foot, which forced him to miss half the season, and Toulouse finishing just one spot short of relegation. This led to Mathieu pondering his future with the Midi-Pyrénées-based side.

Transfer controversy and success

Despite heavy interest from Italian side Roma and other Italian outfits, Toulouse refused to budge with efforts to get Mathieu to remain at the club. Mathieu responded by turning down a contract extension, which effectively allowed him to leave on a Bosman transfer at the end of the season 2008–09. Eventually it was agreed by Toulouse and Mathieu that the player will see out the season at Toulouse, after Toulouse turned down a €4.5 million move to Bordeaux.

Despite the ongoing transfer situation, Jérémy remained civil in regards to playing. He made 31 league appearances during the 2008–09 season, contributing to Toulouse's successful league campaign, as well as the team's success in the Coupe de France, where they were eliminated in the semi-finals by the eventual champions Guingamp.

Valencia

On 10 June 2009, it was announced that Jérémy would be Unai Emery's first signing of the summer for Spanish giants Valencia after securing the left back on a three-year deal. The transfer came into effect on 1 July 2009. He made his debut for the club in a 2–0 win over Sevilla FC.

International career

Jérémy has received caps with all of France's youth teams beginning with the U-15s. Though, he was a regular with the under-21 squad leading up to the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, he was not selected to participate in the event. He received his first call up to the senior squad for their friendly against Slovakia. However, he played with the second team, France A', who were playing Slovakia B.

He made his national team debut against the USA where he played 90 minutes.

Club statistics

As of 11 January 2010

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
FC Sochaux	2002–03	23	4	?	?	0	0	?	?
	2003–04	29	3	?	?	6	1	?	?
	2004–05	34	2	?	?	8	1	?	?
	Total	86	9	?	?	14	2	?	?
Toulouse FC	2005–06	35	2	?	?	0	0	?	?
	2006–07	32	2	?	?	0	0	?	?
	2007–08	14	1	?	?	2	0	?	?
	2008–09	31	0	?	?	0	0	?	?
	Total	112	5	?	?	2	0	?	?
Valencia CF	2009–10	23	1	1	0	5	0	29	1
	Total	13	1	1	0	5	0	18	0
Career totals		?	15	?	?	?	?	?	?

External links

• Valencia official profile
• BDFutbol profile
• LFP profile
• L'Équipe player stats (French)
• Transfermarkt profile
• Ciberche stats and bio (Spanish)