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With the obvious exception of England, no country has produced more Premier League players than France.
Well over 200 Frenchmen have called the English top flight home since its inception in 1992 – and here at FourFourTwo, we've racked our brains to pick out the very best of the bunch.
Click the right-hand arrow above to kick off the countdown!
32. Youri Djorkaeff (Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers)
Sam Allardyce’s Bolton Wanderers pulled off quite a coup by signing 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winner Youri Djorkaeff in 2002 – and the versatile playmaker brought great class to the Trotters.
Forming an all-star foreign trio alongside Jay-Jay Okocha and Ivan Campo, Djorkaeff scored 20 goals in 75 Premier League outings for Bolton – before featuring a handful of times for their Lancashire rivals Blackburn Rovers.
31. Sylvain Distin (Newcastle, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Everton, Bournemouth)
No French player has ever made more Premier League appearances than the 469 Sylvain Distin racked up across a 15-year spell in the English top flight (in fact, no one even gets within 100).
A reliable left-sided centre-back who could also operate at left-back, Distin played the bulk of his Prem games for Manchester City and Everton – where he featured 178 and 174 times respectively – and was voted player of the season at both clubs, as well as captaining City.
30. Steed Malbranque (Fulham, Tottenham, Sunderland)
Firm Fulham fan favourite Steed Malbranque was one of the Cottagers’ first Premier League signings, and the classy, adaptable winger racked up 172 league appearances for the West London outfit between 2001 and 2006 – bagging 32 goals.
29. Laurent Robert (Newcastle, Portsmouth, Derby County)
One of the finest free-kick takers in Premier League history, Laurent Robert found the net 11 times from such situations during less than five seasons in the competition.
The left winger – a 2001 Confederations Cup winner with France – is best remembered for his time at Newcastle, where he scored 22 goals in 129 Prem outings.
27. Frank Leboeuf (Chelsea)
One of three members of France’s 1998 World Cup-winning squad who were playing their club football in the Premier League at the time, Frank Leboeuf spent five great years at Chelsea from 1996 to 2001.
Also a Euro 2000 winner, the centre-back – in addition to his top-class defensive abilities – possessed excellent long passing ability and was an accomplished penalty taker.
26. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
Tottenham’s number one for 11 seasons, Hugo Llloris made 361 Premier League appearances in all – among the most of any non-English goalkeeper in the competition.
One of the best ‘keepers in the game at his peak, the former Lyon man captained France to 2018 World Cup glory during his time at Spurs – where he also wore the armband, for eight years.
24. Anthony Martial (Manchester United)
Anthony Martial became the most expensive teenager of all time when he completed a £36m move from Monaco to Manchester United in 2015 – and he soon lived up to his price tag.
Granted, the lighting-quick forward – a threat cutting in from the left or through the middle – perhaps didn’t fully live up to his potential, but he’s still one of the top-scoring Frenchman in Premier League history, scooping United’s 2019/20 Players’ Player of the Year award after netting 17 times in 32 league games.
23. Fabien Barthez (Manchester United)
Among the maddest goalkeepers ever to pull on the gloves in the Premier League, Fabien Barthez was also one of the best during his time at Manchester United.
In four years at Old Trafford, the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000-winning custodian helped Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to two Premier League titles, making it into the 2000/01 PFA Team of the Year after keeping a joint league-high 14 clean sheets.
22. Louis Saha (Newcastle, Fulham, Manchester United, Everton, Sunderland)
If not for the injuries which blighted his career, Louis Saha would surely have broken the 100-goal mark in the Premier League.
As it was, he still registered 85 times, placing him fourth among his nation’s leading marksmen in the competition. The 2006 World Cup runner-up’s best Prem return was 20 goals in the 2003/04 campaign, midway through which he joined Manchester United from Fulham for £12.4m.
20. Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal)
One of only eight Premier League players to notch 50+ Premier League goals, Alexandre Lacazette reliably led the Arsenal line for four seasons, reaching double figures in each of his first four campaigns with the Gunners.
Skipper for the final few months of his spell in North London, the ex-Lyon man – who returned to his hometown club upon leaving Arsenal in 2022 – was voted the Gunners’ 2018/19 Player of the Season.
19. Sylvain Wiltord (Arsenal)
French Footballer of the Year in 1999, Sylvain Wiltord left Bordeaux for Arsenal the following year and went on to make a major contribution to the Gunners’ 2001/02 Premier League title win, scoring 10 goals along the way.
The versatile frontman repeated that individual feat the following campaign, before collecting another league winner’s medal as an ‘Invincible’ in 2003/04.
18. Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle, Crystal Palace)
Arriving from Lille in the summer of 2011, Yohan Cabaye soon established himself as one of Newcastle's biggest stars of the Premier League era.
Exceptionally creative and tirelessly hard-working in equal measure, the midfielder left the Magpies for PSG after only two-and-a-half years – but returned to England in 2015 to add his quality to Crystal Palace, where he made just shy of 100 Prem appearances.
17. Florent Malouda (Chelsea)
Signed from Lyon in the summer of 2007, left-sided winger Florent Malouda went on to play an integral role in Chelsea’s 2009/10 Premier League triumph under Carlo Ancelotti.
The 80-cap French international scored 12 league goals that season and 13 the following campaign, finding the net 35 times overall in the English top flight – in addition to providing 20 assists.
15. William Gallas (Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham)
One of a select group of players to have pulled on the shirt of London rivals Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, William Gallas racked up 321 Premier League appearances across a 12-year stay in the division.
Included in the PFA Team of the Year while with the Blues and the Gunners, the versatile defender – who scored 25 goals in the competition – starred in the former’s first two Premier League title triumphs.
14. Marcel Desailly (Chelsea)
One of the finest centre-halves of all time, Marcel Desailly was still in his prime when he joined Chelsea in the summer of 1998.
A World Cup and Euros winner with his country, Desailly – who captained the Blues until his departure in 2004 – was named in the Premier League’s best overseas team and best overall team of its first decade.
13. Emmanuel Petit (Arsenal, Chelsea)
Scorer of France’s third goal en route to victory in the 1998 World Cup final, defensive midfield maestro Emmanuel Petit held it all together as Arsenal secured their first Premier League title in 1997/98.
The ponytailed technician spent a further two seasons with Arsene Wenger’s side, making the 1998/99 PFA Team of the Year, before seeing out his career with Chelsea after a short stint at Barcelona.
12. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal, Chelsea)
Record goalscorer for the French national team at one stage, Olivier Giroud is also the third-highest French goalscorer in the Premier League, registering 90 times (73 for Arsenal, 17 for Chelsea).
Among Giroud’s goals was one of the best the Prem has ever seen: a frankly outrageous scorpion kick against Crystal Palace in 2017 – a worthy winner of that year’s Puskas Award.
11. Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
Could Paul Pogba have been even better? Probably – he could certainly have been more consistent – but he was already operating at an extremely high level for Manchester United.
The 2018 World Cup-winning midfielder’s £89.3m return to United from Juventus in 2016 broke the world transfer record, and he left Old Trafford for the second time in 2022 having made 157 Premier League appearances – scoring 29 goals and making the 2018/19 PFA Team of the Year.
10. Samir Nasri (Arsenal, Manchester City, West Ham)
A two-time Premier League champion with Manchester City, Samir Nasri lit up the league with his superb skill and penchant for dribbling.
Capped 41 times by France, the midfielder – who scored 36 goals in the competition and set up 40 more – made his Prem bow with Arsenal after joining from Marseille in 2008. Three years later, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year.
9. Patrice Evra (Manchester United)
Sir Alex Ferguson described Patrice Evra as one of the best left-backs in Europe – and the Manchester United boss wasn’t wrong. A £5.5m signing from Monaco in January 2006, Evra soon made his transfer fee look like an absolute steal.
8. David Ginola (Newcastle, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Everton)
The most thoroughly French Frenchman ever to play in the Premier League? We reckon so. David Ginola brought immense flair and flamboyance to the English top flight when he joined Newcastle from PSG in 1995.
An even more notable spell with Tottenham followed, as the flowing-locked winger – who provided 42 Premier League assists, the fifth-most of any French player – did the prestigious double of PFA Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year in 1998/99.
7. Nicolas Anelka (Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea, West Brom)
Nicolas Anelka’s Premier League career was on the peripatetic side – and he made his mark most places he went.
Nicknamed ‘Le Sulk’ for his perceived lack of enthusiasm, Anelka’s record of 125 goals (the second-most by a French Premier League player) and 48 assists (the fourth-most) shows that he actually applied himself pretty well.
6. Claude Makelele (Chelsea)
You have to be a pretty special player to have a role named after you – and Claude Makelele was just that, introducing English football to a new kind of defensive midfielder.
Signed from Real Madrid in the summer of 2003, the indefatigable lynchpin was absolutely crucial to Chelsea’s 2004/05 and 2005/06 Premier League title triumphs under Jose Mourinho.
5. N'Golo Kante (Leicester, Chelsea)
Plucked from the relative obscurity of French outfit Caen by Leicester in the summer of 2015, N’Golo Kante would soon be renowned as one of the world’s foremost midfield destroyers.
Instrumental to Leicester’s fairytale Premier League title win of 2015/16, the unassuming Frenchman followed that triumph up by winning it again with Chelsea the next season – when he also did the FWA Footballer of the Year and PFA Players’ Player of the Year double.
3. Patrick Vieira (Arsenal, Manchester City)
An absolutely formidable midfield presence – for his world-class abilities both on and off the ball – Patrick Vieira was at the heart of everything good Arsenal did in the late 90s – helping Arsene Wenger’s men to their maiden Premier League title in 1997/98 – and early 00s.
A Premier League champion for the second time in 2001/02, then captain of the Gunners’ 2003/04 ‘Invincibles’, the World Cup and Euros winner was voted 2000/01 Premier League Player of the Season.
2. Eric Cantona (Leeds, Manchester United)
Few players have ever influenced the Premier League as profoundly as Eric Cantona, the competition’s first foreign superstar and Manchester United’s greatest overseas import of all time.
Having arrived in the English top flight with Leeds, the famously enigmatic genius joined their arch-rivals, United, in 1992 – and proceeded to play a talismanic role in four Premier League title wins, including as captain in 1996/97.
Voted 1993/94 PFA Players’ Player of the Year and 1995/96 FWA Footballer of the Year, Cantona scored 64 goals – among them that chip against Sunderland – and provided 56 assists in 143 Prem games.
1. Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
Thierry Henry never won the Ballon d’Or – he should have – but nothing can take away from his greatness, and his status as the greatest Premier League player of all time.
Undoubtedly Arsenal’s best ever player, the beguilingly smooth attacking marvel tore the English top flight a new one during the first half of the 00s, amassing 157 goals at an average of 0.7 per game from the 2000/01 to 2006/07 seasons – and winning an unprecedented four Golden Boots.
Voted PFA Fans’ and Players’ Player of the Year in 2002/03 and 2003/04, Henry was the main man in the Gunners’ ‘Invincibles’ campaign – which brought him his second Premier League winner’s medal.
