Laurent Manuel

Laurent Manuel (born April 27, 1986) is a former Franco-American soccer player, investor, entrepreneur, and producer.

Laurent Manuel
Personal information
Full name Laurent Manuel
Date of birth (1986-04-27) April 27, 1986
Place of birth New York, United States
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Defender/Midfielder
Youth career
2004 Marseille
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2008 Brown Bears
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009 K.V. Oostende
2010 Long Island Rough Riders
2010 Sevilla FC Puerto Rico
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of January 8, 2012

Career

Youth and College

Manuel was a member of the youth academy at famed French club Olympique de Marseille, before playing four years of college soccer at Brown University. Prior to that he played for his Manhattan prep school, The Browning School.

Professional

In December 2007, Manuel trialed with Israeli club, Hapoel Tel Aviv.[1] The trial was positive and he was asked to return later that year.

Manuel was then selected in the fourth round of the 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft by New York Red Bulls,[2] but did not sign with the club, instead opting to rejoin Hapoel Tel Aviv to try to restart his professional career aboard. He was initially offered a contract by Hapoel Tel Aviv, but he couldn't stay due to paperwork problems. He later returned to the United States where he was called in by D.C. United, and played several reserve games against Chicago Fire, New England Revolution and Columbus Crew,.[3]

Manuel trained with Maccabi Tel Aviv in July 2008, after rejecting an offer from Maccabi Herzliya;[4] Maccabi were eager to find another player who could play at right or left back due to the failed transfer of Sjaak Polak.[5][6] After leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv. Manuel went on trial at Portsmouth in England under Harry Redknapp.

He later returned to train with Portsmouth under Paul Hart. On September 1, 2009, he signed with Belgian side K.V. Oostende[7][8]

Manuel made his league debut with Oostende on September 11, 2009 in a match against K.S.K. Beveren,[9] and went on to play three first team games with the team.

After leaving Oostende, Manuel went on trial with Croatian club RNK Split, and was initially offered a contract, but it fell through when there was complications concerning the president of the club. After further trials in Europe with Swedish club AIK,[10] Manuel returned to the United States in 2010, and re-joined the Long Island Rough Riders for the 2010 PDL campaign.

Manuel has recently just signed for Sevilla FC Puerto Rico to partake in the Supercopa Direct TV 2010. He captained the team and lead them to qualify for the 2011 CFU Club Championship. The SuperCopa is this year's qualifying tournament for the Puerto Rico spots at the 2011 CFU Club Championship Club championship for Caribbean, which in turn is the qualifying tournament for the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League (CCL). In 2008 Sevilla FC Puerto Rico were affiliated with Sevilla FC of La Liga, one of the leading clubs of Spain.

Post-Professional Career

Laurent served on the board of directors for LOSC Football Club in Ligue 1 from 2018-'21. During his time with the club the team participated in Champions League, Europa League and won the 2020-'21 French Ligue 1 Uber Eats Championship.

References
  1. Bouganim, Lior (29 December 2007). ליאור אסולין הושעה מפעילות בהפועל ת"א [Lior Assouline Has Been Banned From Training At Hapoel Tel Aviv]. Ma'ariv (in Hebrew). NRG.co.il. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  2. "Four Added in MLS Supplemental Draft". 24 January 2008.
  3. "Chicago Fire: News: Fire reserves complete D.C. Sweep". Archived from the original on 2010-02-20. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
  4. Ost, Alon (31 July 2008). לורן מנואל החל להתאמן עם מכבי ת"א [Laurent Manuel Has Begun Training With Maccabi Tel Aviv]. Ma'ariv (in Hebrew). NRG.co.il. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  5. Botz, Lee (31 July 2008). היהודי התורן: לורן מנואל נבחן במכבי ת"א [The Token Jew: Laurent Manuel Trialing With Maccabi Tel Aviv]. Yedioth Ahronoth (in Hebrew). Ynet.co.il. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  6. Bernovski, Ra'anan (31 July 2008). מכבי ת"א: עוד יהודי צרפתי הגיע להיבחן [Maccabi Tel Aviv: Another French Jew Came To Trial] (in Hebrew). Walla!. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  7. "Manuel Signs Deal with Belgium's KV Oostende". LIRoughRiders.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
  8. "Manuel Explains KV Oostende Deal". Yanks-Abroad.com. 18 September 2010. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-17.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. "MANUEL, Laurent" (in Dutch). KVO.be. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
  10. Van Wagenen, Jon (17 February 2010). "Manuel Trialing with AIK". Yanks-Abroad.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-18.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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