Martin Terrier, during his breakthrough 2021/22 campaign at Rennes, proved himself not only to be a great goalscorer but also a scorer of a great variety of goals. There were instinctive, poacher’s finishes. Long-range rockets. Crisp penalties. Ice-cool one-v-ones.
If there was one weakness in Terrier’s game, however, it was his heading ability. Until the start of this term, only four of the striker’s 53 career goals had with from his head.
But as Rennes rained on Laurent Blanc’s parade last weekend – beating Lyon 3-2 at Roazhon Park during the former PSG boss’s first game back in Ligue 1 – Terrier did something he’d never done before.
He scored two headers in the same game. If improving in the air was Terrier’s final frontier, then consider another string added to his already stacked bow.
Leeds United are big fans of Rennes forward Martin Terrier
Terrier, Rennes coach Bruno Genesio said at full-time, is a striker in a state of ‘constant’ self-improvement. That three of his nine goals in 2022/23 are headers – almost doubling his career-tally in a matter of weeks – certainly adds flesh to the bones of Genesio’s argument.
“Martin Terrier has all the qualities of a high-level player,” coach Bruno Genesio tells the Ligue 1 website. “Tactically and in his movements. He’s attacking more aggressively too.”
If Terrier was born anywhere but France, he’d almost certainly be on his way to Qatar. As it is, with so many top-class forward options at Didier Deschamps’ disposal, a place on the plane looks set to slip through Terrier’s fingers, despite a run a nine goals and three assists in his last 13 Rennes games.
Does the former Lyon youngster need a mega-money move to a bigger, better league to really establish himself in Deschamps’ eyes? If so, offers certainly won’t be in short supply; Leeds United one club to have already done their due diligence on one of Europe’s most underrated attackers.
“(Leeds) have done a lot of analysis of Terrier at Rennes,” explains Phil Hay, who, if you don’t know, is pretty much West Yorkshire’s answer to Fabrizio Romano. “That is a concrete link.
“That isn’t say that they will do it or that they can afford him. But they like him enough to do that background on him.”
At the risk of sparking a Patrick Bamford pile-on, Leeds would have had a point or three to show for an excellent performance against Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday. Despite playing front-foot, attacking football under Jesse Marsch, Leeds have scored just 11 times in nine games this season.
It won’t be long before Terrier hits the 11-goal barrier all on his own.
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