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.
Le Douaron – an attractive proposition for many Ligue 1 sides
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. Although worthy of their current station, both, however, have a ceiling. Le Douaron isn’t the type of talent that will generate overseas transfer buzz or push for a France cap but he’s proven himself as a reliable option in Ligue 1 who could find a home at a more traditional top-half team.
When Brest eventually revert to type, as seems likely in the next year or so – the new 18-team format is unlikely to be kind, and the workmanlike but overtly useful Le Douaron will remain an attractive proposition for Ligue 1 sides. Whatever his future, the forward is a leading example of the quality that can so readily be found in France’s lower tiers. His success should be a reminder to all in the upper echelons that France continues to produce talent across the pyramid. And it’s worth seeking out.
