Thomas Didillon

Thomas Didillon (born 28 November 1995) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Belgian club Cercle Brugge.[1]

Thomas Didillon
Didillon with France U20 at 2015 Toulon Tournament
Personal information
Date of birth (1995-11-28) 28 November 1995
Place of birth Seclin, France
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Cercle Brugge
Youth career
2008–2013 Metz
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2018 Metz 68 (0)
2014–2015 → Seraing (loan) 31 (0)
2018–2020 Anderlecht 41 (0)
2020 → Genk (loan) 6 (0)
2020– Cercle Brugge 59 (0)
2022–2023 → Monaco (loan) 0 (0)
International career‡
2011 France U16 4 (0)
2012 France U18 1 (0)
2013 France U19 4 (0)
2015 France U20 5 (0)
2016 France U21 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 July 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2016

Club career

Metz

Didillon is a youth exponent from Metz who signed with the first team in 2013.[2] He made his Ligue 2 debut in Metz's champion season on 16 May 2014 against Stade Lavallois in a 0–0 away draw.[3]

After spending a year on loan to RFC Seraing, Didillon returned to Metz for the 2015–16 Ligue 2 season and helped the club re-gain promotion to Ligue 1.[4]

On 13 August 2016, Didillon made his Ligue 1 debut in a 3–2 victory against Lille. It was the club's first first division win since securing promotion.[5] The following season; Didillon lost his role as starting goalkeeper to Japanese national team player, Eiji Kawashima.

Seraing (loan)

During the 2014–15 season, he played 31 competitive games on loan for Belgian second division side RFC Seraing, where he had moved alongside fellow Metz-players Saliu Popoola and Samy Kehli.[6]

Anderlecht

After ten years with Metz, Didillon signed with Belgian champions, Anderlecht of the Belgian Jupiler Pro League in June 2018.[7] On 20 September, he made his UEFA Europa League debut in a 1–0 loss against Slovakian club, Spartak Trnava.[8]

Didillon quickly established himself as the starter in the Anderlecht goal: in his first season he did not miss a single league match and was only replaced by backup Frank Boeckx in the cup match against Union Saint-Gilloise and the final Europa League group match against Dinamo Zagreb. Didillon was praised in the regular competition for his strong reflexes and leadership, and was even called a bright spot in an otherwise meagre season for Anderlecht.[9] However, in the first two days of the play-offs he made mistakes against Genk and Club Brugge after bad footwork, which changed the perception around him.[10][11]

During the 2019–20 pre-season, Didillon made mistakes on return balls in the friendlies against Ajax and AZ.[9][12] Because manager Vincent Kompany's system required a sweeper keeper and Didillon's footwork was not considered good enough for that, Anderlecht started looking for a new goalkeeper in the summer of 2019. On the opening day against Oostende he was the starter in goal, but he was since replaced by Hendrik Van Crombrugge. From the second matchday, Didillon alternated between the bench and reserves.[13]

Genk (loan)

In January 2020, Didillon was loaned by league rivals Genk until the end of the season with an option to purchase. Genk had a shortage of available goalkeepers at that time. At the end of the season, the purchase option was not used and Didillon returned to Anderlecht.[14]

Cercle Brugge

In August 2020, Didillon signed a four-year contract with Cercle Brugge.[15]

Monaco (loan)

On 20 July 2022, Didillion joined Monaco on a season-long loan.[16]

International career

Didillon has represented France at the U16 through U21 levels. In 2015, Didillon participated in the Toulon Tournament, leading France to a victory over Morocco in the final.[17]

Career statistics
As of match played 7 January 2023[1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Metz 2013–14 Ligue 2 100000—10
2015–16 Ligue 2 2701000—280
2016–17 Ligue 1 3200000—320
2017–18 Ligue 1 800020—100
Total 6801020—710
RFC Seraing (loan) 2014–15 Belgian Second Division 31000——310
Anderlecht 2018–19 Belgian Pro League 40000—5[lower-alpha 3]0450
2019–20 Belgian Pro League 1000——10
Total 41000—50460
Genk (loan) 2019–20 Belgian Pro League 6000—0060
Cercle Brugge 2020–21 Belgian Pro League 30000——300
2021–22 Belgian Pro League 29000——90
Total 59000——590
Monaco (loan) 2022–23 Ligue 1 0010—0010
Career total 20502020502140
  1. Includes Coupe de France, Belgian Cup
  2. Includes Coupe de la Ligue
  3. Includes appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Metz

References
  1. "T. Didillon". Soccerway. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  2. "PROSPECT: Thomas Didillon". getfootballnewsfrance.com.
  3. "Laval vs. Metz - 16 May 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  4. "Metz promoted to Ligue 1 as Bob Bradley's Le Havre miss out by one goal". goal.com.
  5. "New boys Metz hit back to stun Lille". espn.com.
  6. "Kehli et Popoola à Seraing". Football Club de Metz (in French). 2 July 2014.
  7. "Anderlecht acquire goalkeeper Thomas Didillon from Metz". getfootballnewsfrance.com.
  8. "Spartak Trnava v Anderlecht Match Center". uefa.com.
  9. Danvoye, Pierre (10 September 2019). "Alleen verliezers in het dossier-Didillon". Site-Sportmagazine-NL (in Flemish).
  10. "Sterk Racing Genk begint aan play-off 1 met een knal: leider stuurt na imposante eerste helft Anderlecht wandelen". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Flemish). 30 March 2019.
  11. Geril, Jürgen (4 April 2019). "Club Brugge schrijft geschiedenis en pakt eerste competitiezege bij Anderlecht in 21 jaar, titelstrijd ligt helemaal open". Het Nieuwsblad (in Flemish).
  12. "Anderlecht gaat de boot in tijdens oefenmatch tegen AZ, doelman Thomas Didillon blundert". Het Nieuwsblad (in Flemish). 13 July 2019.
  13. "Van de basis naar de tribune: Cobbaut en Didillon afwezig bij RSCA, ook Saelemaekers niet in selectie". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Flemish). 4 August 2019.
  14. "Genk stuurt Didillon terug naar Anderlecht: "Trieste beslissing"". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Flemish). 13 May 2020.
  15. "Didillon verlaat Anderlecht en tekent voor vier jaar bij Cercle Brugge: "Een nieuwe uitdaging"". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Flemish). 11 August 2020.
  16. "Thomas Didillon joins AS Monaco". Monaco. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  17. "France Weather Moroccan Storm To Lift The Toulon Trophy". frenchfootballweekly.com.
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