Ask any Barcelona fan who was their key player in mid 2000’s and pat will be the reply, Ludovic Guily. The diminutive Frenchman has been one of those players who smoothly fall under the radar and keep working silently for their team.
Guily made his debut for Olympique Lyonnais in 1994 as an 18 year old as a winger. He later on rose through the ranks was a permanent fixture in Lyon team of 90’s. After impressing one and all at Lyon he moved to tax haven of Monaco in 1998 for a fee of 42 million francs whoch is equal to almost 7.5 million pounds.
Monaco is where Guily carved a name for himself. He is known as ‘magical elf’ for his height and game. After having an impressive stint at Monaco, he made his big step up to FC Barcelona in 2004. He had best years of his career in Spain as he won two Liga titles along with Champions League title in 2006. Change in management led to Guily’s ouster from the club and he moved to Italy where he played for AS Roma.
At Roma, he won an Italian SuperCup and Coppa Italia. And also he was second highest scorer for them in his time in capital. He just played a solitary season there and again moved back to his native France as he signed for PSG in 2008.
This when his low patch started as the Frenchman struggled to settle into his any of the clubs. Then he returned to AS Monaco but his second stint was a disaster. Monaco were struggling in second division and he couldn’t ease their woes as they failed to get promoted.
He finally announced his retirement in 2013 when he played for Lorient against his former club PSG. Later on, he came out of retirement for his boyhood club Monts d'Or Azergues Foot, who ply their trade in CFA or fourth division of French football. He led to a victory over Ligue 2 side Istres in current season's French Cup.
Ludovic Guily in a nutshell –
Honours
AS Monaco
Ligue 1: 2000
Coupe de la Ligue: 2003
Barcelona
UEFA Champions League: 2006
La Liga: 2005, 2006
Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006
AS Roma
Coppa Italia: 2008
Supercoppa Italiana: 2007
PSG
Coupe de France: 2010
France
Confederations Cup: 2003
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