Kévin Malcuit (born 31 July 1991) is a French 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 Turkish club Ankaragücü. He predominantly plays as a full-back. He is also capable of playing in a number of different positions, including as a winger and as an attacker.
Malcuit started his career with
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, but after finding his first-team opportunities limited and being sent out on loan to
Vannes
Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago.
History Celtic Era
The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who lived ...
, he joined Fréjus Saint-Raphaël in the summer of 2012. Good performances in the
Championnat National
The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, t ...
led to a return to professional football with
Chamois Niortais
Chamois Niortais Football Club (often referred to as ''Les Chamois'', Chamois Niortais, or simply Niort) is a French association football club based in the commune of Niort, in the Deux-Sèvres department of western France. It was founded in 1 ...
in January 2014. During his time at Niort, he was named in the
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 ...
Team of the Season for 2014–15. He played more than 40 matches in all competitions for the club during an 18-month spell before transferring to
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Saint-Étienne is the t ...
in August 2015.
Club career
Early career
Malcuit was born in
Châtenay-Malabry
Châtenay-Malabry () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located 10.8 km (6.7 mi) from the center of Paris.
The French writer Chateaubriand lived in the estate ''Vallée-aux-Loups'' at Châtenay-Malabry. The Gar ...
, a suburb of
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. As a youth he represented Parisian side
Racing Club Racing Club may refer to:
Football
* Racing Club Abidjan, Ivory Coast
* K.R.C. Genk, Belgium
* Racing Club Bafoussam, Cameroon
* Racing Club Beirut, Lebanon
* Racing Club de Avellaneda, Argentina
* Racing Club Haïtien, Haiti
* Racing Club Port ...
before being scouted by
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
at the age of 17. At Monaco, he began his senior career, breaking into the professional setup towards the end of the 2009–10 season. He was first included in the match-day squad for the Ligue 1 game against
Lorient
Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France.
History
Prehistory and classical antiquity
Beginn ...
on 5 May 2010, although he was an unused substitute. He eventually made his debut early the following season, coming on as a late substitute for
Vincent Muratori
Vincent Muratori (born 3 August 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defender. He began his football career at Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, ...
in the 0–0 draw with
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
on 18 September 2010. This proved to be his only senior appearance of the campaign, although he was a regular for the reserve side, making 28 appearances in the
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 ...
.
After making four first-team appearances for Monaco during the first half of the 2011–12 season, two of them in the league, Malcuit was loaned to
Championnat National
The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, t ...
side
Vannes
Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago.
History Celtic Era
The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who lived ...
in January 2012 for the remainder of the season. He made his debut as a substitute for Mohamed Youssouf in the goalless draw with
Chamois Niortais
Chamois Niortais Football Club (often referred to as ''Les Chamois'', Chamois Niortais, or simply Niort) is a French association football club based in the commune of Niort, in the Deux-Sèvres department of western France. It was founded in 1 ...
on 17 February 2012. Malcuit scored his first senior goal in the 2–2 draw away at
Orléans
Orléans (;"Orleans" (US) and Malcuit was released by Monaco in the summer of 2012 and subsequently returned to the Championnat National, signing for Fréjus Saint-Raphaël on a free transfer following a successful trial period. He went on to spend one-and-a-half seasons with the Varois club, making 38 league appearances and scoring two goals.
Niort
On 9 January 2014, it was announced that
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 ...
side Chamois Niortais had signed Malcuit on an 18-month contract after agreeing a fee with Fréjus. He did not break into the first team immediately upon his arrival at Niort, and had to wait until 18 April 2014 to make his debut for the club, when he replaced
Tristan Lahaye
Tristan Lahaye (born 16 February 1983 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, Essonne) is a French footballer who last played as a defender for Ligue 2 side Chamois Niortais.
Lahaye has played for AS Beauvais Oise, FC Sète, Amiens SC and LB Châteauroux in L ...
late in a 1–2 home defeat to
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
*Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
*Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
**Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Brest, ...
at the Stade René Gaillard. He went on to play in each of the final six matches of the season, two of them from a starting berth. During the 2014–15 campaign, Malcuit found himself a regular in the first team under new manager
Régis Brouard
Régis Brouard (born 17 January 1967) is a French football manager and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of Bastia.
Coaching career
Brouard was appointed as head coach of Red Star, newly relegated to ...
, starting 28 of the club's 38 league fixtures that season. He was often utilised in a midfield role, preferred on the right wing to loan signing
Adama Ba
Adama Ba (Arabic: آدما با; born 27 August 1993) is a Mauritanian professional footballer who plays as a winger.
Club career
In August 2015, Ba joined AJ Auxerre, shortly after being released by SC Bastia
Sporting Club Bastiais ( co ...
. Malcuit scored two goals during the 2014–15 season, including one in a 1–3 away win at
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...
on 20 February 2015. His performances led to him being named the best outfield player in Ligue 2 in 2014–15 by
France Football
''France Football'' is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusiv ...
magazine. He was also selected in the Ligue 2 Team of the Season alongside teammates
Paul Delecroix
Paul Delecroix (born 14 October 1988) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Championnat National club Châteauroux.
Career
Born in Amiens, Delecroix started his career with Amiens and made six league appearances for ...
and
Florian Martin
Florian Martin (born 19 March 1990) is a French professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Valenciennes.
Club career
He started his career with Lorient, but did not break into the first team and joined Carquefou in 2011, w ...
.
Despite links with a number of Ligue 1 clubs during the summer of 2015, including
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
and
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 ...
, Malcuit remained at Niort and featured in the opening four matches of the 2015–16 campaign.
Saint-Étienne
On 28 August 2015, Malcuit joined
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Saint-Étienne is the t ...
on a four-year contract, for a reported transfer fee of €800,000.
Lille
Malcuit signed a five-year contract with Ligue 1 rivals
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...
on 8 July 2017, after being signed by Head Coach
Marcelo Bielsa
Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning "The Crazy Bielsa"; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional football manager who was most recently the head coach of Premier League club Leeds United. He is a forme ...
.
Napoli
On 8 August 2018, Malcuit signed to Italian
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
side
Napoli
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
. The transfer fee paid to Lille was reported as €11 million plus possible bonuses.
Fiorentina
On 28 January 2021, Malcuit joined
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...
on loan until 30 June 2021.
Ankaragücü
On 8 September 2022, Malcuit signed a one-year contract with
Süper Lig
The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...
club Ankaragücü. He made his debut for the club on 18 September, coming on as a late substitute for Oğuz Ceylan in a 2–1 league win over
Sivasspor
Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Demir Grup Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department competes in Süper Lig, as of 201 ...
.
International career
Malcuit was called up to the Morocco national team in 2016.
In October 2019, Malcuit had rejected the opportunity to play for
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
internationally and that he harboured an ambition of playing for France.
Personal life
Malcuit was born in France to a
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
Samir
Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...