Michaël Henry Ciani (born 6 April 1984) is a French former 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 ...

who played 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 ...

Club career

His performances during the 2008–09 season led to increased speculation that Ciani would sign with another club with the player preferring a move to the

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 ...

over Ligue 1 contenders

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 ...

and

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

. On 28 July 2009, Ciani and Bordeaux reached an agreement on a four-year contract with the

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...

-based club paying Lorient €4 million for his services. The defender was recruited by

Laurent Blanc Laurent Robert Blanc (born 19 November 1965) is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, and is currently the manager of Ligue 1 club Lyon. He has the nickname ''Le Président'', which was given to him ...

as a replacement for the departed

Souleymane Diawara Souleymane Diawara (born 24 December 1978) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a defender. He spent most of his career in France, playing for Le Havre, Sochaux, Bordeaux, Marseille and OGC Nice, apart from a brief stint ...

who joined

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. On 18 July 2015, Ciani reached an agreement on a two-year contract with

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

after his three-year contract with

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

ended. Roughly one month later, however, he signed a two-year deal with

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

. On 31 August 2016, after only three matches for the ''Pericos'', Ciani rescinded his contract. On 2 September 2017, Ciani was signed by MLS club

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

as a free agent. Ciani scored his first goal for the Galaxy against FC Dallas on 22 October 2017. Ciani was released by LA Galaxy at the end of their 2018 season. On 20 October 2019, 35-year old Ciani announced his retirement.

International career

Ciani made his international debut for France in 2010.CIANI MICHAEL
fff.fr, accessed 11 March 2010

References

External links

* * 1984 births Living people Association football defenders French footballers France under-21 international footballers France international footballers French people of Guadeloupean descent AJ Auxerre players CS Sedan Ardennes players FC Lorient players LA Galaxy players Major League Soccer players Racing Club de France Football players R. Charleroi S.C. players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Ligue 1 players S.S. Lazio players Serie A players Sporting CP footballers La Liga players RCD Espanyol footballers French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in the United States French expatriate sportspeople in Portugal French expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate soccer players in the United States {{France-footy-defender-1980s-stub