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 lea ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

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 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 ...

over Ligue 1 contenders

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

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

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

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

-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 Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back and is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad Club (J ...

as a replacement for the departed Souleymane Diawara who joined

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

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

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

after his three-year contract with

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

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 RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

. 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 The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

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 Footballers from Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine French men's footballers Men's association football defenders Racing Club de France Football players Royal Charleroi S.C. players AJ Auxerre players CS Sedan Ardennes players FC Lorient players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players SS Lazio players Sporting CP footballers RCD Espanyol footballers LA Galaxy players Ligue 1 players Serie A players La Liga players Major League Soccer players France men's under-21 international footballers France men's international footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Portugal French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in the United States 21st-century French sportsmen {{France-footy-defender-1980s-stub