A Post-Summer-Transfer Update on France Players

I meant to write this up before I left on my trip, but I guess there’s no time like the present.

There was a lot of movement this summer among longtime and sometime members of the France NT. We have a bunch of players who’ve moved on, and also some who have, surprisingly, stayed put. So how did the summer transfer window shake out for our boys?

First, the obvious and early-summer moves. Frank Ribéry is now playing alongside Willy Sagnol at Bayern Munich and is apparently loved by one and all. (Or he’ll be playing alongside Willy when Willy’s knee is finally better. Does anybody know when that will be?)

And of course Thierry Henry made the jump from Arsenal to Barcelona, where he hasn’t been playing all that well. (Although he did score his first goal recently.) One of his teammates blamed his slump on distress caused by his divorce from the lovely ex-model Claire. Since Titi seems to have been the one who initiated the split, I don’t have a lot of sympathy. (I am becoming less and less of an Henry fan as time goes on and would love to see him replaced by Karim Benzema.)

Eric Abidal also moved to Barcelona, leaving Lyon. All seems to be going well here, although he was none too happy to have Barcelona and Lyon in the same Champions League group.

Djibril Cissé was finally able to get Marseille to buy him from Liverpool, making that long-term loan deal into a permanent thing.

After much hesitation and a jaw-dropping transfer fee of something like $34 million, Florent Malouda jumped ship from Lyon for Chelsea. (For the record, he is apparently one of those none too happy with manager Jose Mourinho’s departure.)

And apparently Chelsea must have a two-person quota for France internationals, because Florent came in and midfielder Lassana Diarra went out. Lassana apparently got frustrated with his place in the pecking order of holding midfielders and went to Arsenal, where he is by all accounts playing his guts out.

Also at Arsenal is rightback and recent France player Bakary Sagna, who has been garnering attention by jumping in and getting the job done. (Although people keep commenting on his bad hair. What’s up with that?)

Lyon want-aways Alou Diarra and Sylvain Wiltord also made the leap this summer, Alou to Bordeaux and Sylvain to Rennes. Gaël Givet went from Monaco to Marseille, and Rio Antonia Mavuba went from Bordeaux to Villareal.

And which players unexpectedly stayed put? Claude Makélélé signed a one-year extension with Chelsea. This is somewhat humorous, because one of the reasons he was talking about leaving was that they were only offering him one year. After all of the talk and grumbling, though, what did he sign? Too bad, though — I love Makélélé and wish he could hang around forever.

There was much talk swirling around Nicolas Anelka all summer, but in the end he stayed at Bolton. (I really expected him to go to a Champions League team, particularly given his penchant for team-hopping.) He may be regretting his choice now; Bolton is currently in the EPL cellar, with only one win so far this season.

And, of course, after much pouting and sulking David Trezeguet finally decided to stay at Juventus.

And that’s all that’s coming to mind off the top of my head. If I’ve forgotten anybody, drop me a note in the comments.