Laurent Manuel (born April 27, 1986) is a former French/American soccer player, entrepreneur and tv/film producer.

Career

Youth and College

Manuel was a member of the youth academy at famed French club Olympique de Marseille, before playing four years of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

at Brown University. Prior to that he played for his Manhattan prep school, The Browning School.

Professional

In December 2007, Manuel trialed with

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i club, Hapoel Tel Aviv. The trial was positive and he was asked to return later that year. Manuel was then selected in the fourth round of the

2008 MLS Supplemental Draft The 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft was held on January 24, 2008, six days after the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, as teams filled out their developmental rosters. Changes from 2007 * 2008 expansion club San Jose Earthquakes received the first pick in each ro ...

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

, but did not sign with the club, instead opting to rejoin Hapoel Tel Aviv to try to restart his professional career aboard. He was initially offered a contract by Hapoel Tel Aviv, but he couldn't stay due to paperwork problems. He later returned to the United States where he was called in by

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

, and played several reserve games against Chicago Fire,

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

and

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

,. Manuel trained with

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

in July 2008, after rejecting an offer from

Maccabi Herzliya Maccabi Herzliya F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל מכבי הרצליה, ''Moadon Kaduregel Maccabi Herzliya'') is an Israeli football club based in Herzliya. The club is currently in and plays at the Herzliya Municipal Stadium. History ...

; Maccabi were eager to find another player who could play at right or left back due to the failed transfer of Sjaak Polak. After leaving

. Manuel went on trial at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

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 ...

under Harry Redknapp. He later returned to train with

under

Paul Hart Paul Anthony Hart (born 4 May 1953) is an English football manager, coach, and former professional player who made 567 appearances in the Football League as a defender. The son of Johnny Hart, who played for and managed Manchester City, ...

. On September 1, 2009, he signed with

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

side K.V. Oostende Manuel made his league debut with Oostende on September 11, 2009 in a match against K.S.K. Beveren, and went on to play three first team games with the team. After leaving Oostende, Manuel went on trial with

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n club

RNK Split Radnički nogometni klub Split, commonly known as RNK Split, is a Croatian football club based in the city of Split. History The club had a strong fanbase in the Split's shipyard. The club was founded on 16 April 1912 as Anarch, but has had se ...

, and was initially offered a contract, but it fell through when there was complications concerning the president of the club. After further trials in Europe with

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

club

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

, Manuel returned to the United States in 2010, and re-joined the

Long Island Rough Riders The Long Island Rough Riders are an American association football, soccer team based in South Huntington, New York, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays i ...

for the 2010 PDL campaign. Manuel has recently just signed for

Sevilla FC Puerto Rico Sevilla FC Puerto Rico was a Puerto Rican professional association football team based in Juncos, Puerto Rico. Founded in 2006, the team used to play in the Puerto Rico Soccer League. The club was founded in 2006 as a farm team for the Puerto ...

to partake in the Supercopa Direct TV 2010. He captained the team and lead them to qualify for the 2011 CFU Club Championship. The SuperCopa is this year's qualifying tournament for the Puerto Rico spots at the 2011 CFU Club Championship Club championship for Caribbean, which in turn is the qualifying tournament for the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League (CCL). In 2008

were affiliated with

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA E ...

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' ...

, one of the leading clubs of Spain.

Post-Professional Career

Laurent served on the board of directors for LOSC Football Club in Ligue 1 from 2018-'21. During his time with the club the team participated in Champions League, Europa League and won the 2020-'21 French Ligue 1 Uber Eats Championship.

References

External links

K.V. Oostende profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manuel, Laurent 1986 births Living people American people of French descent Jewish American sportspeople American soccer players Brown Bears men's soccer players Westchester Flames players IMG Academy Bradenton players Long Island Rough Riders players K.V. Oostende players Sevilla FC Puerto Rico players USL League Two players New York Red Bulls draft picks Association football midfielders Association football defenders Browning School alumni Sportspeople from Manhattan Soccer players from New York City Expatriate footballers in Belgium American expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Lille OSC non-playing staff