Jimmy Briand

Jimmy Briand (; born 2 August 1985 in Vitry-sur-Seine) is a French association football player who currently plays for Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1. He started his career as a striker, but now he is usually deployed on the wings. Briand is a former graduate of the famous Clairefontaine academy and is formerly a France youth international. He is also a member of the senior team making his debut on 11 October 2008 against Romania. On 14 June 2010, Briand joined Lyon on a four-year contract. Prior to joining the club, he had been the longest serving player that was currently playing for Rennes having joined the club in 2001.

Club career

Rennes

Briand began his career at US Ivry before joining CSF Brétigny. Following a stint there, he was selected to attend the Clairefontaine academy. Following his tenure there, Briand joined the youth academy of professional club Rennes

While in Rennes' youth system, Briand won the Coupe Gambardella in 2003. During the league season, he made his professional football debut, at the age of 17, in a match against Paris Saint-Germain coming on as a substitute playing 25 minutes. The match finished 0–0. Over the next two seasons, his play was limited only appearing in 16 league matches and scoring one goal, his first ever, against Montpellier in a 4–0 victory.

Briand finally broke into the first-team for the 2005–06 season appearing in 29 league matches and scoring 3 goals helping Rennes finish in...
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