PROFILE | Jérémy Le Douaron embodies Brest’s success

Jeremy Le Douaron’s low-key success in Ligue 1 isn’t just a win for the player and his club, Brest, but for the French football pyramid as a whole.

Already 22, Le Douaron joined the small Breton club in 2020 from local fourth-tier Stade Briochin, a product of Brest’s minimal resources and astute regional scouting. A versatile attacker, the Frenchman’s intensity and direct style immediately made him a useful, if understated, option with his ability to adapt swiftly to a far higher level being the most impressive aspect of his blossoming in Ligue 1.

Playing across the front line during his time at Brest, Le Douaron’s unspectacular, waspish effectiveness is unaffected by his team’s usual plight or the job he’s asked to do. Ten Ligue 1 goals last term, usually from the left wing, saw the now 25-year-old surpass the much more celebrated Seko Fofana and Florian Sotoca of Lens, Rennes’ pair Arnaud Kalimunedo and Jeremy Doku and his much more eye-catching teammate Franck Honorat in both raw numbers and goals per game.

2023 has seen Le Douaron truly ensconce himself in France’s top tier. Seven of those strikes came after last season’s World Cup break and, despite a slow start, he’s added three more this term by the time of writing. Brest, meanwhile, have kicked on too. Having found themselves top of Ligue 1 in late September, Eric Roy’s side remain in the European hunt and, with fewer games and none of their rivals’ European commitments, will be quietly confident of maintaining their form.

Le Douaron sums up Roy’s team. Understated, energetic and hardworking but subtly skilful when needed, Brest and Le Douaron are both managing to expertly maximize their abilities to unsettle some of French football’s more established names.