In the new Match of The Day Top 10 episode, the boys want to know who are the best French footballers in the Premier League. Here’s a list of their picks. Read them, decide which ones you think are the greatest and then rank them!
Eric Cantona
Eric Cantona played for soccer clubs Leeds and Manchester United, and in total he made 156 appearances with 70 goals and 56 assists in the Premier League.
Cantona joined Manchester United from Leeds during the 1992-93 season unexpectedly, and it turned out to be a great decision since he helped them win their first league title in 26 years. The following year he even aided a double victory of both the league and cup titles.
The next year United had an amazing win against Liverpool in the FA Cup final and this was all thanks to Eric Cantona who scored a magnificent goal.
Unfortunately, he got in trouble for kicking a fan after getting a red card in his match against Crystal Palace and so was out of action for the second half of the 1994-1995 season. However, when he returned, he helped United move to their way to another successful season, winning both the league and cup double as well as being voted FWA Player of the Year!
Claude Makelele’s Impact on Chelsea FC
When people talk about great defensive midfielders, one of the first names that comes to their minds is Claude Makelele. He joined Chelsea Football club in 2003 for a fee of £16.8m and became a really important player for them over the next five years. In that time he appeared in 144 games, and scored 2 goals with 4 assists!
He was an important part of Chelsea that led to the team winning two championship trophies, one cup and two other small trophies.
“N’Golo Kante
N’Golo Kante was not very well known when he joined Leicester, coming from Caen for a really cheap fee around £5.6m; but his work left an impact as soon as he arrived. He played an important part in helping Leicester win the Premier League title in 2015-16. In total, he has 222 appearances and scored 12 goals while assisting 16 more across his time with both Leicester and Chelsea.
Kante was such a good midfielder at Leicester City that Chelsea paid £32m to get him the next season. His amazing play then helped Chelsea get the Premier League title and he also got the PFA Player of the Year award. Kante has won lots of awards, including Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup medals.
Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry was a soccer star who played for Arsenal from 1999 to 2007, and then again from 2011 to 2012. During his time in the Premier League he had 258 games where he scored 175 goals, plus he assisted on 74 more goals. At first, he played as a winger or even a wing-back defender but when he went to Arsenal Coach Arsene Wenger changed his role to be a forward striker. This change made him one of the most successful strikers in Premier League history!
Henry was very successful in his Arsenal career from 2001-2006 and scored at least 24 league goals for five seasons straight, even scoring 30 goals during their legendary ‘Invincibles’ run in 2003-04. He holds the record for having the most goals ever scored for Arsenal, and is also part of a duo that has the highest number of assists ever made in one Premier League season.
“Robert Pires
Robert Pires was an amazing signing for Arsenal Football Club. He played there from 2000-2006 and then went on to play at Aston Villa in 2010-11. Over those two clubs, he featured 198 times with 62 goals and 41 assists in Premier League matches.
When he was playing with the team, the combination of him Ashley Cole and Thierry Henry on the left side of the field were one of the best trio’s ever seen. His performance during 2003-2004, a season which saw Arsenal unbeaten, was outstanding – scoring 14 league goals!
Pires was a really great player for Arsenal Football Club and was chosen as one of the best players in 2001 to 2004. He also scored the winning goal in the 2003 FA Cup Final!
Patrice Evra
Patrice Evra played in two clubs throughout his soccer career: Manchester United from 2006 to 2014, and West Hammer since 2018. In the Premier League games he attended, he scored 7 goals, assisted 21 times, and his teams kept 98 clean sheets. He had a tough start as a Manchester United player; in his debut game against the team’s derby rivals, he was taken off after the first half! But afterwards Evra became an important player for them.
Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Edwin van der Sar were join by Evra to make a powerful defence team. This team set the most consecutive clean sheets record in 2008-09 season with 13!
During his 8 years at the club, Evra won Premier League 5 times and Champions League once in 2008.
“Patrick Vieira’s Impressive Premier League Contributions Lead to Multiple Cup Victories”
Patrick Vieira was a famous soccer player who played for great teams like Arsenal for nine years and Man City for one year. In that time, he made 307 appearances and scored 31 goals with 34 assists in the Premier League. He was tall at 6ft 4in but moved the ball around very well. His contributions helped Arsenal win two doubles in 1997-98 and 2001-02, plus they were undefeated during his captaincy season in 2003-04.
In 2004-05, Vieira scored a goal with a penalty kick which helped Arsenal to win the FA Cup. Then in 2010, he went back to the Premier League and won another FA Cup with Manchester City.
“Emmanuel Petit’s Rise from Monaco to the Premier League
Arsene Wenger brought Emmanuel Petit to his old team, Monaco, for £2.5m in 1997. Along with Patrick Vieira, he created a special partnership that helped Arsenal win two titles in his first year there! However, he left Arsenal in 2000 and switched to Barcelona. During his 3 seasons at Arsenal, Petit scored 11 goals and provided 26 assists – 140 appearances total in the Premier League.
Petit had won a national championship in France and returned to the English Premier League in 2001 with Chelsea. He then spent the following 3 seasons playing for them.
David Ginola’s Trophy-filled Journey Through England’s Premier League
David Ginola was a soccer player who played for four different Premier League teams over a period of seven years. During that time he played in 195 matches, scored 21 goals and had 42 assists. Alan Shearer actually played with him at Newcastle between 1996-1997 where David helped the team secure two back-to-back great finishes!
The talented soccer player had his best years at Tottenham and in 1998-99 he won two awards known as the PFA Award and Football Writers’ Player of the Year Award. However, Manchester United dominated nearly everything that season. Although Ginola had many impressive skills, he only got one award throughout his time in England, which was when Spurs won the League Cup in 1999.
A Teenage Prodigy
Nicolas Anelka started playing in the Premier League when he was 17 years old, signing with Arsenal and later moving to Liverpool, Man City, Bolton, Chelsea and West Brom. Over his career he played in 364 matches, scoring 125 goals and assisting 48 times. He is considered a great teen talent because he scored 19 goals in the Premier League – the fourth highest record for any teenager -during just his first season at Arsenal!
In 1999, Anelka left England for Spain’s famous team Real Madrid. After that, he went back to England and played in teams like Liverpool, Manchester City, Bolton and Chelsea. In the 2008-09 season Anelka scored a lot of goals which made him the Premier League’s top scorer. Then with the help of Didier Drogba, Anelka won the 2009-10 Premier League title with Chelsea.
What do you think about who are the best French footballers in the Premier League?
