GFFN 100 2017 What is the gffn 100? The Get French Football News 100 comprises of our se- lection of the top one hundred talents that French football has to offer, judged solely on their performances in 2017. To be eligible for the GFFN 100, the player must have been a registered squad member of a Ligue 1 or a Ligue 2 club on the 31st December 2017. For example, Bernardo Silva is ineligible despite playing half of the calendar year at Monaco because on the 31st December 2017 he was plying his trade at Manchester City. However, Luiz Gustavo is eligible for the GFFN 100 de- spite having joined Marseille in the summer of 2017 be- cause on the aforementioned date he was a registered squad member of theirs. Players that are eligible are judged on all their profession- al appearances in 2017, regardless of whether or not they were playing abroad for a part of the calendar year. This applies to the international appearances they might have accumulated, during World Cup Qualifcation or January’s Africa Cup of Nations, for example. Players are ranked in descending order: with the high- est-rated talent ranked 1st and the 100th highest-rated tal- ent ranked 100th. The selection process involved a nomination stage where- by the GFFN 100 contributors chose their favoured list of one hundred, alongside the use of statistical data to rank players according to a range of over 50 distinct parame- ters across different playing positions. 100 * alexander djiku<> Position: defender Club: sm caen Age: 23 Last season – 2016/17 – SM Born in Montpellier, Djiku was mination to avoid a similar fate Caen’s problem was obvious. schooled in the SC Bastia B side this season. They conceded far too many and made the breakthrough goals, which is why they firted into the Corsican club’s frst Of Senegalese descent, Djiku so perilously with relegation, team in 2015. Having im- is a defender who likes a tackle escaping literally by the skin of pressed in his performance in and is outstanding in the air. their proverbial teeth. It is no Ligue 1, he was earmarked by The former asset does mean exaggeration to say that if they Patrice Garande as a replace- that he is not averse to a mis- suffered the same defensive ment for newly retired Nicolas timed challenge and therefore is frailty this campaign, relegation Suebe as someone who would no stranger to the referee’s note- may well have loomed well be- add some steel to last season’s book, in fact it took him just 38 fore the end of the season. porous defence. minutes of his debut, ironically at his hometown club Montpel- The frst half of the 2017/18 Caen were successful with a bid lier, to see yellow, however, his season has been testament to of around €2m in the summer style of play and commitment their hard-work on the train- and on 11th July 2017, Djiku is something that was perhaps ing ground, particularly in the signed a four-year contract with missing from the Caen backline defensive department, with the club, fghting off some stiff last season. only Marseille and champi- competition to secure his sig- ons elect PSG managing to nature. He could have earned At the other end of the feld his breach Caen’s backline more signifcantly more with a move 1.82m frame and aerial ability than twice in a match so far. to Turkey from where there was make him a dangerous threat in Central to that stark improve- frm interest from a number of the opposition box and, added ment has been the recruitment sides, most notably Fenerbahce, to the likes of Santini, Rodelin of 23-year-old Alexander Djiku or to England where there was and Da Silva, provides Caen from SC Bastia. interest from both Premiership with a far greater goal threat, and Championship clubs. not to mention defensive solidi- Djiku is a uncompromising ty, at set pieces. defender in the true defnition Clearly an intelligent young of the term. There are no frills to man, and perhaps well advised If Caen can keep Djiku clear his game, he is a prime example which is rare in the modern of injury and suspension, they of an individual embodying the game, he rejected these ad- should have no problem in car- philosophy that a defender’s job vances to move to Normandy, rying their newfound defensive is to stop the ball from entering, to continue his development. steel into the second half of the or in fact going anywhere near, Given last year’s struggles, he season and avoiding any recur- the goal that he and his team was clearly sold on the club’s rence of last season’s nail-biting are defending. renewed ambition and deter- fnish. 99 * prejuce nakoulma<> Position: attacker Club: fc nantes Age: 30 CF Ouagadougou, Gornik Za- France, arriving January, as Ser- of a rift between the two. As a brze, Mersin Idman Yurdu and gio Conceição’s Nantes side lost result, Nakoulma was left out Kayserispor hardly reads like 4-0 at the marauding eventual through much of August before an illustrious footballing career champions Monaco. This was being convinced to stay on at nor the usual path for a young followed by a brace at Mont- the Beaujoire. African player aiming to make pellier in a 3-2 victory the fol- a name for himself. Yet this was lowing week before a bulldozing His explosive, ebullient start the meandering journey taken performance in the visit of Nice aside, Nakoulma has since by Burkina Faso forward Préjuce and another couple of goals to settled, unusually for him, into Nakoulma, one which eventu- win the western derby with An- a more consistent, predictable ally landed him at the Stade de gers. Nakoulma’s bristling form string of performances in Ligue la Beaujoire and FC Nantes. coincided with the arrival of the 1, leaving the majority of the Exploding onto the Ligue 1 intense and combative man- goal-scoring to Sala, having scene with fve goals in his frst agement of Conceição who had netted just twice this season so six starts, Nantes fans quickly his team playing aggressive, far. adopted the tune “Oh Nakoul- attacking football which played ma, Nakoulma, il marque tous to his new striker’s strengths. A Nevertheless, his pace and les soirs,” a variation of: “He combined tally of 21 goals un- power continue to prove a scores every week.” derlined a commanding part- handful for the division’s defenc- nership that was quickly fostered es as Ranieri is more inclined to Despite the footballing back- with the equally powerful, if less move Nakoulma into a wider waters populated by Nakoulma dynamic, Emiliano Sala. role or one subservient to Sala. earlier in his career, the prolifc An international hat-trick in nature of his opening salvo Nakoulma’s unorthodox route November shows his scoring of Ligue 1 outings was a little to one of Europe’s top fve touch remains ensconced how- against the grain. Despite his leagues has taken time, the Bur- ever. “Nakoulma, il marque tous explosive pace and power, the kina Faso international turned les soirs,” may no longer ft but Burkinabe attacker’s previous 30 in April and after the suc- Claudio Ranieri’s pacey, rugged performances were largely de- cess of his opening six months forward remains key to Les Ca- fned by inconsistency; capable in France another move was in naris’ charge for the top six. of the specular and occasionally the offng this summer. Nak- unplayable but more often quiet oulma looked to force through or erratic. Although he was of- his next career jump: “I am not ten used in a wider role, 15 goals enjoying the start of this season, over 78 games for Mersin and because we’ve lost two match- Kayserispor in Turkey is large- es. I’m equally not enjoying it ly representative of his overall from a personal point of view,” record. explained Nakoulma. Claudio Ranieri however, replacing Con- A standout display without ceição after his move to Porto, scoring in his frst appearance in remained frm amid rumours 98 * denis bouanga<> Position: attacker Club: fc lorient Age: 23 That a player from Ligue 2 intent displayed in the league, being sent on loan again last makes this list may raise some which makes success on a poor year, Bouanga played well eyebrows, but Denis Bouanga’s side all the more impressive. enough to catch the eye of 2017 makes him an easy choice Tours did play with more verve Gabon boss José Antonio Ca- for the GFFN 100. Playing no than most last season, scoring macho, who made the young- part of Lorient’s relegation, he 55 times (only six sides, including ster an important part of the spent last season on loan at all three of the promoted sides, hosts’ plan. Three draws were Tours and took the league by scored more), but also conced- not enough to see Les Pantheres storm, scoring sixteen goals and ed at a rapid rate, with a de- through, but Bouanga’s form, assisting a further six despite fence that was comfortably the buoyed by his play with his missing a large chunk of time league’s worst. country, where he was named owing to his playing for Gabon man of the match by Gabonese at the Africa Cup of Nations. Fans of Lorient may recognise media in two of those matches, Seeing the current predicament that description, but Les Merlus went through a marked uptick of Tours, badly cut adrift and this season have put themselves upon his return.