Jérôme Rothen

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Lore & Background

A native of the Paris metropolitan area, Rothen fulfilled a childhood dream when he signed for the capital side Paris Saint-Germain in 2004 for €11 million. He rejected lucrative offers from more powerful European clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Valencia in order to join PSG, the club he supported during his youth. In the French capital, his dream soon turned sour. Often injured, Rothen appeared in only 18 league games and 2 Champions League fixtures in his debut season. 2005-06 was equally disappointing. Under the orders of Laurent Fournier and then Guy Lacombe, the left winger struggled to reproduce the kind of displays that had made him famous at Monaco. Often injured, he nonetheless took part in a Coupe de France win over fierce rivals Olympique de Marseille. In the second half of 2006, returning from injury, Rothen found himself cast aside by Guy Lacombe. In December 2006, he faked an injury in order to organize a transfer deal that would materialize during the January transfer window. He was then tipped to join Lille OSC, but then learned about Lacombe's imminent sacking from Paris Saint-Germain. The arrival of new coach Paul Le Guen in January 2007 convinced him to stay put. Gradually, he began to recover his best form. With the club battling against relegation, Rothen's revival was one of the factors that enabled PSG to save their spot in the top flight. In the summer of 2007, several clubs expressed interest for the midfielder, including champions Olympique Lyonnais, who were looking for a replacement for the outgoing Florent Malouda. Rothen stayed in Paris, and following a great start to the 2007–08 season, was voted as the league's player of the month in September. He regained a spot in the France national football team and even netted a free-kick on 13 October 2007 against the Faroe Islands. In 2007–08, Paris Saint-Germain struggled even more than the previous season. In such a context, Rothen became an increasingly important player due to his creativity and crossing ability. Such was his importance to the club that French media would describe PSG as 'dependent upon Rothen' and 'playing a game that is excessively left-sided', the flank which the player occupied. During those years, several signings like Sergey Semak, Bonaventure Kalou and Williamis Souza were made with the aim of reducing the side's dependence on Rothen and introduce

In Their Own Story

The turning point for Rothen at PSG came after a tumultuous 2006-07 season where he was cast aside by manager Guy Lacombe. In December 2006, desperate to leave, he faked an injury to engineer a transfer, only to halt those plans when he learned of Lacombe's imminent sacking. The arrival of Paul Le Guen in January 2007 convinced him to stay, sparking a resurgence that saw him voted Ligue 1 Player of the Month in September 2007. His creativity was so dominant during the struggling 2007-08 campaign that he netted a crucial free-kick against the Faroe Islands on 13 October 2007, marking his last scored free-kick for France as of June 2015. By the summer of 2009, with new signings like Stéphane Sessègnon and Ludovic Giuly arriving, Rothen's importance waned. Manager Antoine Kombouaré deemed him surplus to requirements, banishing him to the reserves squad before his departure in May 2011.

Reader's Guide

Rothen underwent training at the famous Clairefontaine Football Academy in France. He started his career with Caen. He then moved to Troyes AC where he played under manager Alain Perrin. He was bought by AS Monaco on 1 January 2002 for €5 million. With Monaco, Rothen won the Coupe de la Ligue in 2003. He also helped the club reach the final of the Champions League in May 2004, where they lost to FC Porto 3–0. On 1 September 2009, Rothen agreed to join Scottish Premier League club Rangers on a one-year loan deal from PSG. He made his debut for the club on 12 September 2009 against Motherwell. He made his first appearance in the Champions league for Rangers in their 1–1 draw away to Stuttgart. After going back to France Rothen's relationship with Rangers soured and the club were looking to move Rothen on, as he was deemed surplus to requirements, rather than pay his salary for the remainder of the season when it looked like he would not figure in the squad. Rothen flew to Turkey on 22 January 2010 to sign a six-month loan deal with Ankaragücü after rejecting advances from Greek sides AEL, Kavala and Iraklis. On 29 January 2010, he signed a six-month contract with Ankaragücü. Almost a year after Paris resigned his contract, Rothen signed in May 2011 a two-year contract with the Corsican club of SC Bastia, newly promoted to the French Ligue 2. Rothen made his team debut on 29 July 2011 against Istres, and Bastia won the match 3–1. He won the Ligue 2 title with the team in the 2011-12 season and was selected as the Ligue 2 Player of the Year. In July 2013, Rothen rejoined his first senior club, Caen. On 1 January 2014, he announced his retirement from football.

Did You Know?

• Rothen published an autobiography titled 'You're Not Going To Believe Me' on 8 October 2008, which described an incident where Zinedine Zidane allegedly called him a 'son of a bitch' during a Champions League match.
• Rothen was voted Ligue 1 Player of the Month in September 2007 and Ligue 2 Player of the Year in 2011–12.
• He scored a free-kick for France against the Faroe Islands on 13 October 2007, which was the last free-kick scored for France as of 13 June 2015.