by Snowball »
02 Jun 2011 20:17
In January 2009, Troyes wasted no time in offering Mathieu Baudry a contract extension to his current deal to tie him to the club until the summer of 2011.[1] Although only playing 17 games for Troyes in the 2008/2009 season, Baudry was awarded young player of the year and the club's players player of the year, proving himself to be one of the most promising young centre back's in the French second division. At 6 feet 2 inches tall, Baudry is a big, strong no-nonsense defender who loves to put a foot in and intercept, he is also very good in the air and has good positional awareness.
Baudry had a clause in his contract which allowed him to speak with other clubs following Troyes relegation to the 3rd tier of French football. Before the 2009/2010 season a number of English clubs took an interest in taking the strong Frenchman on trial. Baudry had a 2 week trial with English 3rd division club Leeds United.
Baudry made his first performance in a friendly match for Leeds United in the 1-1 draw against Grimsby Town, excelling and winning praise from the Leeds manager. Simon Grayson said he was very impressed with Baudry's performance.
Simon Grayson confirmed that Leeds were looking to sign Baudry providing the clubs agreed a fee.[2] The deal was not concluded because the loan and fee was not attractive to Troyes. In the summer of 2011, Baudry was linked with moves to Preston, Doncaster and Reading.