The list of Didier Deschamps is expected this Wednesday. The name of the Stade Rennais striker has been circulating for several weeks as a selectable potential, even if Martin Terrier sees serious obstacles in front of him…
Martin Terrier in the France team, is it still possible? While the fate of Steve Mandanda, goalkeeper of Stade Rennais since the start of the season, is more than uncertain before the 2022 World Cup, it is a striker from the Breton club who could finally come and put on a little red and black with the Blues. The name of Martin Terrier has circulated several times in recent months, during Didier Deschamps’ announcements for the League of Nations confrontations. He would even have been chosen last May by Deschamps in “an enlarged list” according to RMC Sport. A “preselection” remained without follow-up. As the coach of the France team prepares to unveil his list for the World Cup in Qatar this Wednesday evening, the Rennais could well return to the front of the stage.
Because Martin Terrier is one of the linchpins of the very good start to the season Rennais Stadium, third in Ligue 1 after 14 league matches. With already 11 goals scored and four assists, he has even established himself since last summer as the “taulier” of the team, confirming his first two very high-flying seasons in Brittany. The proof ? Stade Rennais was only a shadow of itself against Lille during the 14th day (1-1), while its star striker was absent.
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There are other unmistakable signs: at 25, Martin Terrier would interest some very big European players. The Chelsea club, which is looking for a striker to expand its arsenal, has recently looked at the young footballer from Armentières, a former textile flagship in the North. A player in the process of switching to the international gratin, therefore, if we are to believe the rumours.
One more injured in Deschamps’ list?
To go to Qatar with the French team and take this step, Martin Terrier will nevertheless have to overcome some major obstacles. First, Didier Deschamps, who is already faced with a more than crowded infirmary, could be reluctant to take on a player who is a little physically weak, even if Martin Terrier only suffers from a “small stretch” since the Stade Rennais shock. against the Cypriots of Larnaca (1-1) in the Europa League, at the end of October.
Above all, Martin Terrier is facing already fierce competition at the outposts of the Blues, with the Mbappé-Benzema-Giroud trio occupying all the space, both on the pitch and in the media. In terms of position, the rivalry could even become frontal with Kylian Mbappé, who prefers to leave the tip of the attack to a Benzema or a Giroud and “take advantage of the spaces”, especially on the left, as everyone knows from the “pivot gate” fall at PSG.
A few possible options remain for Martin Terrier: if Didier Deschamps persevered in the implementation of his 3-5-2 in Qatar, a door could open a little lower for the Rennais, still on the left side, where he would have this time affair with a Lucas Digne or an Adrien Rabiot. At best, Martin Terrier could hope to play the understudy of one of these quasi-holders at the “hairdressers”, in other words on the bench of substitutes.
A crescendo course in Lyon then at Stade Rennais
Trained in Lille where he will sign his first professional contract in 2016, Martin Terrier will have a timid start in the elite before being loaned to RC Strasbourg during the 2017 transfer window, where he will be revealed. Recruited by Olympique Lyonnais for 11 million euros in 2018, he will play two seasons with Les Gones, where he will gradually win from 2019.
After an additional season in the Rhône, Martin Terrier will then be one of the big catches of Stade Rennais in the summer of 2020 by signing for 12 million euros with the Breton club. The beginning of a beautiful story, between the left wing and the tip of the Rennes attack. Renewed a little by surprise during the summer transfer window of 2022, he is undoubtedly the pillar of the Breton team this season.
A blank track record but flattering statistics
Martin Terrier has not (yet) won a title, even though he was a finalist in the Coupe de la Ligue in 2020 with Olympique Lyonnais. At Les Gones, he scored ten league goals in two seasons (2018-2019 and 2019-2020), six in the cup and even a goal in the Champions League. Previously, Martin Terrier had already made notable appearances in the 2016-2017 season (1 goal with Losc) and 2017-2018 (3 goals with RC Strasbourg).
With Stade Rennais, Martin Terrier will score 9 goals in 2020-2021, in all competitions, then 21 goals the following season, with a more central position, making the former Lyonnais the third top scorer in Ligue 1 behind Kylian Mbappé, Wissam Ben Yedder and tied with Moussa Dembélé. Terrier will be named in passing for the UNFP trophy for the best player in Ligue 1. Since the start of the 2022-2023 season, he has already scored 11 goals, including 8 in Ligue 1 and 3 in the European Cup.
The France team, one of his “objectives”
Martin Terrier has a career already provided with the Blues, but among the under 20s, and with the Hopes. With the first, he played in a World Cup, in 2017 in Korea, shaking the nets from the first meeting against Honduras. With the latter, he will make an impression during qualifying for Euro 2019, with a hat-trick against Kazakhstan and a double against Montenegro in particular.
Martin Terrier confided in the A team last season on Prime Video: “Honestly, I don’t think about it, but afterwards, it’s sure that the fact of associating myself with the France team, that also values my daily work and my qualities. It is also one of my objectives in the future”, he had blown. “I tasted the France team with the Espoirs, so once we tasted that, we want to go and see higher”.