Laurent Batlles (born September 23, 1975 in Nantes) is a French footballer who currently plays for Grenoble Foot 38, as a midfielder.

[edit] Club career

In 1993-94, Batlles emerged from the Toulouse FC academy into the senior squad, playing his first game in the first division against Olympique Lyonnais, on April 2, 1994, a 1-0 defeat.

In 1999, Batlles joined FC Girondins de Bordeaux after scoring 10 goals in 159 games. At Girondins, he played exactly half of the 1999-2000 season, adding eight games in Bordeaux's Champions League campaign, scoring one goal. The following season he scored three in 32 appearances. He then played 19 league games and six in the UEFA Cup, before completing the 2001-02 season with Stade Rennais FC, where he scored twice in 13 games.

In January 2003, Batlles moved to Corsica and SC Bastia. He played in the remaining 19 games for his new club, a figure he repeated in the first half of 2003-04, without scoring, before joining Olympique de Marseille, in another January transfer window move.^[1]

In one 1/2 seasons with l'OM, Batlles scored three goals in 15 games and played in eight of the team's UEFA Cup matches, which included the final, lost 2-0 to Valencia CF. The following season, he scored eight goals in 30 matches. After starting 2005-06 at Marseille (four appearances), he rejoined Toulouse, initially on loan, only missing three games throughout the campaign, as the team barely avoided relegation.

Battles joined permanently in 2006-07, after a successful loan spell, although he had a link to Marseille until June 2008.^[2]Again, he was an undisputed starter (31 matches and four goals), as Toulouse finished third in the league and reached the third qualifying round of the Champions League, eventually bowing out to Liverpool FC.

In 2008-09, 33-year old Batlles joined newly promoted Grenoble Foot 38. He was an automatic first-choice as the side retained its status.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• L'Équipe stats (French)