Jacques Faty

Jacques Faty (born 25 February 1984 in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France) is a French football (soccer) of Senegalese and Cape Verde descent who plays for french League 1 club FC Sochaux-Montbéliard.

He was a product of the well-known Clairefontaine. Faty's primary position is defender (football) but he has also been fielded in midfield.

He is the elder brother of FC Nantes player Ricardo Faty.

International career

Faty is an accomplished player in the youth level of international football.

In 2001, he captained France's FIFA U-17 World Championship squad to a first-place finish. Faty was a regular starter of the France national football team. He took part in the 2002 European Under-21 Football Championship held in Portugal where the France finished as losing semi-finalists. He is no longer available for selection after exceeding the age limit.

Club Career with Rennes

Faty has been a Rennes player since 1999, although he only signed professional terms in 2002. He became an integral part of the 2003-04 Rennes team which historically achieved qualification to the UEFA Cup.

Faty started to lose his place in the team following the arrival of Ghanaian John Mensah early in 2006. The departure of coach Ladislau Bölöni to manage AS Monaco did not help his claim either. Pierre Dréossi came in to fill in the vacant coach's position and used Grégory Bourillon and John Mensah as the main central defence partnership for the 2006-07 season.

Faty became more and more unsettled as the season went on, and in October 2006 his patience run out. Faty announced his desire to leave the club when his contract expires in June 2007.

A knee injury to Mensah gave him a run in the side, and to his credit, he put in some decent performances. The Rennes management tried to keep him at the club by giving him an extension to his contract, but he declined and opted to join Marseille and enjoy a new experience at "France's top club" as he said when he signed his contract.

Trivia

- Faty made his 100th league appearance for the club on 12 August 2006.
- He almost joined Juventus FC before joining Marseille