Florent Malouda

Name:	Florent Malouda
Nationality:	French
Date of Birth:	13/06/1980
Height:	5' 10" (177cm)
Weight:	12st 11lbs (81.0kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Lyon, Guingamp
Position:	Midfielder

The 2008/09 campaign will be Florent's second season at Chelsea. He joined on a three-year contract with an undisclosed fee paid to Lyon for the then 27-year-old French international winger.

Lyon was his third club. He began his career in Paris with lower league Châteauroux where he played two seasons before moving up the ladder to Guingamp.

In Brittany he teamed up with Didier Drogba and his impressive form over three seasons attracted the attention of Lyon.

Arriving at his new club the same season as Michael Essien, the two shared in championship success, Florent staying at the Stade Gerland long enough to win a hat-trick of league titles while starring in Champions League displays.

Having moved clubs in 2003, he made his debut for France in November 2004 and was a regular by the time of the 2006 World Cup where France made the final.

Florent played wide left of the attack and won the penalty that was converted by Zinedine Zidane to open the scoring, although his side would ultimately lose on a shoot-out.

He has remained a fixture in and around the French XI, and was a key member of the Euro 2008 qualification campaign although in common with most of his compatriots, endured a disappointing tournament, losing his place for the final group game as the team ended bottom.

At Chelsea, the first year started brightly with an excellently-taken Community Shield goal at Wembley and another strike in the first league game. He won a controversially-awarded penalty for an important point at Anfield and opened his Champions League account at home to Schalke.

However a two-month absence in mid-winter with due to persistent knee injury took its toll on Florent's form although he did hit one of the passes of the season for Joe Cole's winner at Goodison in the Carling Cup semi-final.

Following the grim FA Cup exit at Barnsley, there was a month in the wilderness but Avram Grant issued a recall for the Champions League quarter-finals, the then manager frequently choosing the Malouda rather than the Kalou option in European away games. The policy was retained in the Final in Moscow where Florent played the first 92 minutes.

He completed his first Chelsea campaign with four goals from 29+9 games, before Luiz Felipe Scolari arrived in the summer announcing he wanted to see the same Malouda at Chelsea he had seen at Lyon, with direct running and a stronger eye for goal.

The winger responded, but began the season on the bench. It took just 38 minutes before he was introduced in place of an injured Michael Ballack, helping the side to a 4-0 win against Portsmouth.

A run of four goals in 10 games followed before injury setback at the end of November kept him out until Boxing Day, when he returned for the 2-0 win over West Brom. With his natural left-footedness, Malouda provided balance and width that prevented the Drogba - Nicolas Anelka partnership from seeing too much game time, before he began to link up with them both in a three-pronged attack.

Under Guus Hiddink, Malouda started to show a consistency to his game that many would argue had been absent. Assists, running and goals began to become regular facets of the winger's game as he played a key role in FA Cup semi-final success, while denying Lionel Messi the space he needed in the Camp Nou to hurt the Blues in Ashley Cole's absence.

Season 2008 - 09

Competition	Apps (as sub)	Goals	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
League	24 (7)	6	3	0
FA Cup	4 (0)	1	0	0
League Cup	2 (0)	1	0	0
Euro Cups	9 (1)	1	1	0

Career History:
Club	Season	Comp.	Apps (as sub)	Goals
Chelsea	2007 - 08	League	16 (5)	2
		FA Cup	2 (0)	0
		League Cup	2 (1)	0
		Euro Cups	8 (3)	1
Lyon	2006 - 07	League	27 (8)	10
		Euro Cups	7 (0)	3
Lyon	2005 - 06	League	24 (6)	6
		Euro Cups	9 (0)	0
Lyon	2004 - 05	League	31 (3)	5
		Euro Cups	9 (1)	3
Lyon	2003 - 04	League	31 (4)	4
		Euro Cups	7 (3)	0
Guingamp	2002 - 03	League	36 (1)	10
Guingamp	2001 - 02	League	32 (0)	4
Guingamp	2000 - 01	League	16 (7)	1
Chateauroux	1999 - 00	League	28 (0)	2