French Connection: Ligue 1 & Real Sociedad | OneFootball

As Paris Saint-Germain prepare to face La Liga outfit Real Sociedad in the return leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie with a 2-0 aggregate lead, we take a look at some players who have represented both Ligue 1 and the Basque club down the years.

Mohamed-Ali Cho (Angers, Real Sociedad, OGC Nice)

The youth product of Paris Saint-Germain signed his first professional contract with Angers in 2020 (the second-youngest player to do so behind Eduardo Camavinga), before making his Ligue 1 debut in a loss against Bordeaux (0-2). He then made 53 appearances for the Angevin club before signing for Real Sociedad in 2022. He stayed at the Basque club for two years, scoring one goal in 30 appearances for the club before signing for OGC Nice this January.

Jérémie Bréchet (Lyon, Real Sociedad, Bordeaux, Sochaux, Troyes)

Bréchet started his career at his local club Olympique Lyonnais, making his professional debut in the 1998-1999 season for Les Gones. He represented Lyon until 2003, featuring in 116 games and winning the Ligue 1 title in the 2001-2002, and 2002-2003 seasons before signing for Milan. Bréchet had a one season stint at Inter Milan before representing Real Sociedad for two seasons, making only 20 appearances in that time for the Basque club.

Modibo Sagnan (Montpellier, Lens, Real Sociedad)

Sagnan began his career in Ligue 2 with Racing Club de Lens, making 13 appearances in Franck Haise's senior side before signing for Real Sociedad in January 2019. He made his debut in 2020 for the Txuri-urdin after a loan spell at Mirandés, before making 15 more appearances and then subsequently being loaned out to Utrecht. Sagnan then returned to Ligue 1, signing for Montpellier in February 2024.

French National team representatives at Real Sociedad

The Basque club has a tradition of developing local talent in the region, having had a similar transfer policy of signing only Basque players (like Athletic Bilbao) up until 1989. Antoine Greizmann burst onto the scene at the club, where he scored 46 goals in 180 appearances before joining Atlético Madrid in 2014 and representing the France national team, becoming Les Bleus' all-time top assist creator. Théo Hernandez, the brother of PSG defender Lucas, spent the 2018-2019 season on loan at the Basque club, making 24 appearances before moving to current club AC Milan.