Frédéric Georges Claude Auguste Guilbert (; born 24 December 1994) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for Italian club

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

. A product of the

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

youth system, he has played mainly in France for

AS Cherbourg AS Cherbourg or the Association Sportive de Cherbourg Football is a French football team currently playing in Régional 3, the eighth tier of French football, after suffering expulsion from the national leagues in 2023. They are based in the city ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

and

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, as well as a spell with English side

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. He has a single cap for the France U21 side.

Club career

Bordeaux

Guilbert joined

in 2014 from

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

. He made his

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

debut on 5 April 2015 in a 2–1 home win against

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

replacing Thomas Touré after 79 minutes.

SM Caen

On 28 July 2017, Guilbert transferred to

after completing a loan spell during the 2016–17 season. Guilbert was known for being a proficient and hard tackler with an average of 3.1 clearances and 2.9 tackles per game respectively throughout his final season with the club. He finished his time with Caen having amassed 106 appearances over three seasons.

Aston Villa

On 31 January 2019, Guilbert signed for

for an undisclosed fee, but would remain at Caen on loan until the end of the season. He scored his first goal for Villa in an

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

tie against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

on 27 August 2019. He would go onto score his second goal for Aston Villa in the EFL Cup semi-final match against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

on 8 January 2020. Guilbert's Villa career started positively, described by Paul Doyle in ''The Guardian'' as "solid defensively and a regular threat going forward." However, following a knee injury and then the subsequent arrival of Matty Cash in the summer of 2021 Guilbert's appearances were limited.

Strasbourg (loan)

On 31 January 2021, Guilbert signed for Ligue 1 side

on loan for the rest of the season. Guilbert made his Strasbourg debut on 10 February 2021 in a 2–0 home defeat to

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) 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 France, department of ...

in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

. On 3 March 2021, Guilbert scored his first goal for Strasbourg, a late winner in a 1–0 home victory over

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

in Ligue 1. After returning to Villa from his loan spell for pre-season, on 31 August 2021, Guilbert returned to Strasbourg on loan for the 2021–22 season. Guilbert stayed at Villa following the summer transfer window of 2022. In September 2022, Aston Villa submitted their 25-player

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

squad for the 2022–23 season, including Guilbert, despite rumours in a local newspaper that he had been instructed to train with the Under-21s rather than the senior squad.

Strasbourg

On 17 January 2023, after not having made a senior competitive appearance for Aston Villa since August 2021, Guilbert signed for Strasbourg on a permanent transfer for an undisclosed fee. Guilbert himself stated that it was a free transfer, with his Villa contract being terminated by mutual consent.

Lecce

On 27 August 2024,

announced that they had signed Guilbert to a two-year contract on a free transfer from

, with an option for a third year.

Career statistics

Honours

Aston Villa *

runner-up: 2019–20

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guilbert, Frederic 1994 births Living people Footballers from Manche French men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players Premier League players Serie A players AS Cherbourg Football players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Stade Malherbe Caen players Aston Villa F.C. players RC Strasbourg Alsace players US Lecce players France men's under-21 international footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Italy 21st-century French sportsmen