After a standout weekend featuring two assists, Matthieu Udol has been turning heads with his performances for RC Lens. The veteran left-back has quickly become a key figure in Lens’ campaign this season, demonstrating both skill on the pitch and leadership off it.
Born in Metz, Udol spent over a decade with his hometown club, experiencing multiple promotions and relegations, along with several serious knee injuries. Despite these challenges, he always carried himself with professionalism and even served as team captain before joining Lens. This summer, he seized the opportunity to move to a more established top-flight club, following an impressive previous season where he recorded six goals and eight assists from left-back.
Udol has thrived under Lens’ current system, which emphasizes dynamic and attacking full-backs. Following in the footsteps of players like Jonathan Clauss and Przemysław Frankowski, Udol has provided both defensive solidity and creative firepower. So far this season, he sits joint-top of the assist chart with five, proving his influence on the team’s attacking play.
His impact extends beyond statistics. Udol has been mentioned as a potential candidate for the French national team, thanks to his exceptional ball recoveries and overall contribution on the pitch. While he lacks European competition experience, his trajectory mirrors that of Clauss and Brice Samba, both of whom were relatively late bloomers when first called up to Les Bleus.
Udol himself has expressed openness to the idea of representing France, telling Ligue 1 Plus:
“The fact that the collective’s season and my individual season have been good gives me this idea. If the club has a very good season, we finish very high in the table and I continue to perform, it can come to the idea of thinking about the French team.”
With the World Cup just six months away, Udol will need to maintain his meteoric rise, but his current form suggests that a national team call-up may not be far off.
