Aurélien Tchouaméni: Meet the French soccer star everyone is talking about
Aurélien Tchouaméni has spent the last few years in exile. In a career that began at Stade de Reims in 1999, he spent four years in France and then joined the English Premier League, where he made his debut for Bolton Wanderers in 2004. After several years in England and a stint in the Netherlands, Tchouaméni returned to France and signed with Marseille in 2014. He made the decision to remain in France and signed with Lille the following year.
Tchouaméni has been a cult figure since his days at Bolton, and even he admits he is not quite the soccer star his legend makes him out to be. The young man from the Ivorian coastal city of Lomé, however, is not exactly the stereotypical soccer star. But for some reason, he has become the most talked-about player in the history of both the English Premier League and the French league.
Aurélien Tchouaméni might have started his career in France, but he eventually made his way back across the English Channel to play professionally in England and Belgium. He was only 23 when he debuted for Bolton Wanderers, and he took the next five years to develop into one of the finest attacking players the Premier League has ever seen.
From Bolton to Lille to Marseille, Aurélien Tchouaméni has played in six different countries and scored 15 goals in a 10-year career. At this level, it is a career that would make Steve McManaman look like he has played the game at a semi-professional level.
It’s easy to forget, for some reason, that Tchouaméni is only a decade older than the Premier League as it is. He may very well have already played his last big game in a league called the Premier League before leaving England in the summer
