For those who didn’t know, Anthony Knockaert was still a Fulham player until last summer, when he left for Valenciennes, but his epic journey in England started at Leicester City.
It was in 2012 that the Foxes spent €900k to get him from Guingamp in France, staying at the King Power Stadium until 2015 when he left on a free for Standard Liège.
The 32-year-old sat down with Ouest-France to talk about his career and return to his home country, where he also discussed his transfer to Leicester.
He said: “That summer, I was originally supposed to leave for Montpellier. I was very enthusiastic because the club had just won the league and was due to play in the Champions League. The two clubs didn’t agree. Leicester came afterwards and it had always been a dream of mine to play in England, so I went for it.”
During his time in England, the winger has lived many ups and downs, and has an impressive stat of having been part of four promotions, with Leicester, Brighton and Fulham, which is the most for any Frenchman.
That makes him something of a king of the Championship, having conquered the league so many times, and the newspaper asked Knockaert what his secret was.
He added: “I don’t think there is one, it just requires certain qualities. After that, you also have to pay attention to your lifestyle and believe in yourself. I’m really proud of that fact that I’ve succeeded where a lot of French players have failed.
“Top players like Florian Thauvin and Rémy Cabella, for example, haven’t reached the level they had in Ligue 1. Down my end, I’ve succeeded in terms of longevity, by the fact that I was voted best Championship player in 2016/17 and that I’m respected over there.”
During his time at Leicester, the forward made 106 appearances in all competitions, scored 16 goals and assisted teammates 15 times.
