Damien Vincent Denis Le Tallec (born 19 April 1990) is a French-Russian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for club Sochaux-Montbéliard. He is the younger brother of striker

Anthony Le Tallec Anthony Le Tallec (born 3 October 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward or an attacking midfielder for Liverpool, Sochaux, and Annecy FC. Club career Liverpool Born in Hennebont, Le Tallec was signed from Le H ...

, and cousin of

Florent Sinama Pongolle Florent Stéphane Sinama Pongolle (born 20 October 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was signed at only 16 by Liverpool, but could never impose himself in the first team. He also spent several seasons ...

. Like his older brother, Le Tallec is a France youth international, first appearing with the under-15 team and has appeared in several tournaments around the world for his nation. He started as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, with possibility to play on both

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

. In later career, he has primarily played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, being capable of playing as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

since the time with

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

Club career

Early career

Le Tallec was born in

Poissy Poissy () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Pisciacais'' in French. Poissy is one of ...

. Like his older brother, Damien began his career at

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

joining the club at only five years of age. He spent a full decade at the club and began drawing interests from several clubs in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

. He eventually joined

Stade Rennais F.C. Stade Rennais Football Club (), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and pla ...

, who were known for the promising youth academy.

Rennes

Le Tallec quickly established himself at the club joining fellow prospects

Yann M'Vila Yann Gérard M'Vila (born 29 June 1990) is a French professional footballer who plays for Super League Greece club Olympiacos. He operates primarily as a defensive midfielder, and is described by his former club as a player who possesses "excell ...

Yohann Lasimant Yohann Lasimant (born 4 September 1989) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (sports), winger and midfielder for Championnat National 3 club Besançon Football. Club career Rennes and Sedan Born in Bes ...

Abdoul Camara Abdoul Razzagui Camara (born 20 February 1990) is a Guinean former professional footballer who as a striker, but was also often utilized as a left-winger. Football career Early career Camara was born in Mamou in Guinea, but he moved to Franc ...

, and

Yacine Brahimi Yacine Nasreddine Brahimi (born 8 February 1990) is a professional footballer who plays for and captains the Qatari club Al-Gharafa and the Algeria national team. He plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger and is described as "technical ...

as the club's most promising players. The foursome were particularly instrumental in the club's successes on the youth level, helping their age groups win the 2006 edition of the under-16 Tournoi Carisport, as well as capturing the under-18 championship for the 2006–07 season, and also winning the

Coupe Gambardella The Coupe Gambardella is a French football cup competition held between the under-18s of the French football clubs, organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). The cup is regarded as an opportunity for young hopefuls to showcase their sk ...

in 2008, scoring an impressive eight goals in seven matches. In the Coupe Gambardella final against

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, he scored the final goal in the team's convincing 3–0 victory. Following the 2006–07 season, on 11 August, Le Tallec, alongside teammates M'Vila and Camara, signed his first professional contract, agreeing to a three-year deal. He spent the entire season in the reserves, before being officially promoted to the senior squad and assigned the number 22 shirt for the 2008–09 season. Though on the first-team, Le Tallec began the season with the club's

Championnat de France amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue ...

team. He appeared in 22 matches, scoring four goals, helping the side finish 1st among professional clubs in their group, thus qualifying for the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, where they lost to

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

in the semi-finals.

Borussia Dortmund

Following the season, news came that Le Tallec had become unsettled at Rennes, primarily due to his limited first-team opportunities at the club. Eager to begin his professional career, he was primarily linked to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

and was reportedly in the process of joining the club, but due to a shake up in the club's front office, the move was put on hold and eventually called off. He was later linked with moves to German clubs

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

and

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

. Two months later, on 8 August 2009, another German club,

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

, announced that they had signed the player to a three-year contract and that he will be gradually introduced to the first team.

Nantes

On 31 January 2012, Le Tallec returned to France, signing with

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

Hoverla

The following two seasons, Le Tallec played with

FC Hoverla Uzhhorod Football Club Hoverla Uzhhorod ( ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Uzhhorod. Following the end of the 2015–16 season it was expelled from the Ukrainian Premier League because of debts to (current and former) players.

in the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League'') ...

. The club had just won the second tier last season and were searching for reinforcements, among them, Le Tallec. Despite the fact that during the two seasons Le Tallec spent in Hoverla, Hoverla performed rather mid-down table, Le Tallec was regular and his performances caught the attention of numerous clubs.

Mordovia

In the summer of 2014, Le Tallec moved to Russia and signed with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

FC Mordovia Saransk FC Mordovia Saransk (russian: ФК Мордовия Саранск) is a Russian association football club from Saransk, Republic of Mordovia. In its current state it was formed in 2005, through the merge of Biokhimik-Mordovia and Lisma-Mordovia ...

. Mordovia had just won the second tier and got promoted to the Premier League. Same as in Hoverla, at Mordovia, Le Tallec also performed regularly. By the winter-break of the 2015–16 season, coach

Miodrag Božović Miodrag "Grof" Božović (, ; born 22 June 1968) is a Montenegrin football manager and former player. Playing career Club A tall central defender, Božović played alongside Yugoslav and Montenegrin legends Predrag Mijatović and Dejan Saviće ...

, a specialist of Russian football as he had just spent 8 years coaching in Russian Premier League, was in held of Serbian side

, who were forming a strong team in order to take the title from their main rivals

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...

, who had become chronic winners in the last decade, and in that built-up of the team, Božović made a priority of signing both Mordovia players, Le Tallec and

Mitchell Donald Mitchell Glenn Donald (born 10 December 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He previously played for AFC Ajax, where he went through the youth program. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Suriname national team. ...

, and both ended up moving to Belgrade.

Red Star Belgrade

On 29 January 2016, Le Tallec signed a 2.5-year contract with

. In his league debut with Red Star less than a month later, he scored a goal against

FK Mladost Lučani FK Mladost Lučani () is a professional football club based in Lučani, Serbia. They compete in the Serbian SuperLiga, the top tier of the national league system. History Founded in 1952, the club achieved its first notable success by winning the ...

. At the end of his first season at Red Star, they won the Serbian championship and qualified for a berth in the Champions League qualifying rounds. Having played most of the former season as central midfielder, along

, since start of the 2016–17 season, Le Tallec was often adapted as central defender by Red Star coach

. While with Red Star Belgrade, Le Tallec made 104 appearances and scored 7 goals in all competitions and won 2 Serbian SuperLiga titles, between 2016 and 2018. In May 2018, Le Tallec announced that he would leave the club definitely in the summer the same year, after the end of his contract.

Montpellier

On 20 June 2018, Le Tallec returned to his home country and signed with

club

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

AEK Athens

On 9 July 2021, Le Tallec was announced as the new signing of Greek

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

club

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

, having signed a two-year contract, with the option for one more year extension once it's over. On 12 September, he scored the opening goal with a header in the 7th minute against Ionikos, in a game which ended in a 3–0 win for the hosts.

Torpedo Moscow

On 30 August 2022, Le Tallec returned to Russia and signed with

Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pre ...

. His contract with Torpedo was terminated by mutual consent on 13 January 2023.

Sochaux

On 31 January 2023, Le Tallec signed a contract with Sochaux-Montbéliard until 30 June 2024.

International career

Le Tallec has featured for all of France's national youth teams, beginning with the under-15 team, earning his first selection in March 2006. He was a member of the under-17 team that reached the semi-finals at the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, before losing to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He scored two goals in the tournament, both of them in the same game against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He later played with the same under-17 team at the

2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007, the twelfth edition of the tournament, was held in South Korea between 18 August and 9 September 2007. For this event, the number of teams had been expanded from 16 to 24, with the top two of each group and the four ...

held in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Le Tallec appeared in all five matches, scoring four goals, one against

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, a brace against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

in the Round of 16, and one against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

whom defeated France on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in the quarterfinals. In total with the under-17s, Le Tallec scored 14 goals in 18 appearances. With the under-19 team, Le Tallec appeared in 15 matches, scoring 6 goals. He scored three of those goals during the qualification process for the UEFA U-19 Championship against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

, and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. The victory over Romania assured qualification to the tournament. At the tournament, held in the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, Le Tallec appeared in all four matches, helping France reach the semi-finals before suffering defeat to

. In 2019, he started the process of applying for citizenship of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

(his wife is Russian, his son has dual Russian-French citizenship and they own a house in Moscow). Le Tallec said he would be honoured if he will be called up to the

Russia national football team The Russia national football team (russian: Сборная России по футболу, Sbornaya Rossii po futbolu) represents the Russia, Russian Federation in men's international association football. It is controlled by the Russian Footb ...

after the process is complete. In April 2020, he received permanent residency permit in Russia and said his citizenship application is 90% complete, but is taking longer than expected due to restrictions introduced during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Russia The COVID-19 pandemic in Russia is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Russia on 31 January 2020, when two Ch ...

. He officially received Russian citizenship on 9 October 2020. It was reported that he is not eligible to play for the senior Russia team as he played in official international games for youth teams of France.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

Rennes *

: 2008 Borussia Dortmund *

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

: 2010–11 Red Star Belgrade *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...

(2): 2015–16, 2017–18

References

External links

Damien Le Tallec
a
Staderennais.com
* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Tallec, Damien 1990 births French people of Breton descent Russian people of French descent People from Poissy Footballers from Yvelines Naturalised citizens of Russia Living people French footballers France youth international footballers Russian footballers Association football central defenders Association football midfielders Association football utility players Stade Rennais F.C. players Borussia Dortmund players Borussia Dortmund II players FC Nantes players FC Hoverla Uzhhorod players FC Mordovia Saransk players Red Star Belgrade footballers Montpellier HSC players AEK Athens F.C. players FC Torpedo Moscow players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Regionalliga players Ligue 2 players Ukrainian Premier League players Russian Premier League players Serbian SuperLiga players Ligue 1 players Super League Greece players French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Serbia Expatriate footballers in Greece French expatriate sportspeople in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine French expatriate sportspeople in Russia French expatriate sportspeople in Serbia French expatriate sportspeople in Greece Russian expatriate sportspeople in France Russian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Russian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Russian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Russian expatriate sportspeople in Greece