Ligue 1 Talents: Clement Grenier…Remember the name.

Maybe you know him, maybe not, but Clément Grenier is a big talent. He’s 21 years old and plays for Olympique Lyonnais, a French club who was once one of the best sides in the world not so long ago.

Grenier is a pure product of the club as he has been with the club since 2002. In 2008, he signed, at just 17 years old, his first pro contract with Lyon. But, who is Grenier?

He began playing football at the age of three at FC Annonay with his brother Bertrand but he rapidly progressed and at a higher level than most others in the club. At 11, he moved to Lyon after that the club showed interest in him.

He is considered a big talent and one of the future key players of the club since the age of 17 but he really emerged just last season mainly due to personal problems. Indeed, when you’re young and you’re earning a lot of money, you can become less professional and that’s what happened to the player but today he’s a changed man.

With the departure of Miralem Pjanic (AS Roma) and the injuries to Yoann Gourcuff and Ederson, the only natural playmaker left is Grenier and it’s finally his time to show the world what he’s capable of. And there is no doubt in my mind that he’ll take his chance.

Grenier has made a remarkable debut in his first full season in Ligue 1 and will gradually establish himself in the first XI.

It’s a big turnaround for a player who was a pro at 17 as well as an U19 European champion but who was, at some point in his career, got lost in the glitz and glamour of his new life.

On his debut, he impressed a lot of managers and players like his Brazilian teammate Bastos who said that Grenier is a “player with a lot of qualities and extraordinary technique.”

Since 2011, his coach, Rémi Garde, has relied a lot on him and his first games of this season have been fantastic as he’s already scored a goal along with 2 assists, and has been impressive overall with his superb passing, great eye for goal and his well-regarded technical ability- he’s simply the complete playmaker.

Try and take the time to watch him play if you can to make your own opinion about him, but he’s been since last year one of my favourite young players and I wouldn’t be shocked if one day, Grenier plies his trade with one of Europe’s top clubs.