Even if he is perhaps most famously known for falling asleep on Real Madrid’s bench, Julien Faubert did have a good career in football, playing for teams such as Girondins de Bordeaux and West Ham, as well as spending time in Turkey, Scotland, Finland and Indonesia.
One club he never played for, however, is Rangers, where he had the chance to sign in 2007.
The right-back, speaking to 100% Ligue 1 and relayed by Girondins4Ever, explained that he came extremely close to moving to Ibrox, but in what many would consider a rather lousy move, he broke off talks at the very last minute.
He explained: “I was ready to sign for Rangers. I was talking with them, sat at a table with my agent. During that chat, my agent gets a text telling him West Ham were very interested and were in Bordeaux. He told me to go to the toilets, we chat, and he asks me if it interests me. I tell him yes, and he tells me to fake leaving the table, and we left.
“We left, we left them hanging, unfortunately. We go to Bordeaux, West Ham’s people were there and the contracts were already ready. We started with four-year deal. The guy asks me if I want five, I said yes, and we did that”.
The player says everything went to plan, as the Hammers paid €10m for his transfer, with €8.5-9m up front with it potentially going to €11m.
However, two weeks after arriving, Faubert suffered a bad Achilles injury, but he praised West Ham for ‘taking care of everything’.
He said: “Honestly, I was in the best conditions over there and that’s why I was so happy”.
Faubert still plays football to this day at the age of 36, signing for Fréjus Saint-Raphaël in France’s CFA league in the summer of 2019.
He has one cap for France, which he got in a friendly back in 2006, coming off the bench for 21 minutes against Bosnia and scoring the winner in the 91st minute.
