Valérien Ismaël

Strasbourg

Ismaël made his debut for Strasbourg against Cannes on 15 January 1994. He went on to make 77 league appearances in his first spell with the club. Additionally, he appeared in five UEFA Cup matches, scoring once.

Crystal Palace

Ismaël was signed by Crystal Palace for £2.75 million from Strasbourg in January 1998, making him the most expensive player in the club's history. However, he only played 13 games for the London club, before moving back to his native France to sign for Lens in October 1998.

Lens

Ismaël's time at Lens saw him regain his form after his brief spell in England. He played 83 times, scoring five goals. He also had a short loan spell at his former club Strasbourg during the 2000–01 Division 1 season. The club were relegated that season, but Ismaël played in the 2001 Coupe de France Final, in which Strasbourg defeated Amiens on penalties. He returned to Lens for the 2001–02 Division 1 season where he played 33 times and scored four goals. He was sold back to Strasbourg for the following season following their promotion back to the top tier.

Back to Strasbourg

On moving back to his former club for a third spell, Ismaël was appointed captain and led the club to 13th position. In his last spell at Strasbourg, he made 26 appearances and scored twice. He appeared for his home club a total of 167 times in all competitions and scored seven goals.

Werder Bremen

Ismaël was loaned to Werder Bremen in 2003 where…

Ismaël made appearances for the French under-18 and under-21 teams. When he was not called up to the senior team, it was reported that he wanted to represent Germany. However, he was rejected by the German Football Association (DFB) because there was not enough connection to Germany. In an interview with the German sports magazine Kicker, Ismael said: "I am French, and I still hope for my chance to play for France. I'm feeling fine in Germany, but I do not want to volunteer. Only if Klinsmann wants me, then we would have to talk about it." If former Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann was interested in him, Ismaël wanted to check his ancestry. Gernot Rohr said of the exclusion of Ismaël from the senior team: "Although Valérien was a U-21 international, he was never an option for the senior team. Of course, Valérien is one of the better centre-backs, but he was never so striking that he could compete with the first-team regulars." Ismaël saw it differently: "There used to be big names, okay. But today, I am no worse than those who are there." After Ismaël offered his services in October 2005 again to the Germany national team, he again received a rejection. Later in March 2006, the German Football Association announced that Ismaël was not eligible to play for Germany because he had played a U-21 European Championship qualifier for France in August 1996. According to FIFA rules, he would have needed German citizenship back in 1996 to have made the switch. It was reported that Togo…

Hannover 96

On 10 October 2009, Ismaël became the assistant general manager of Hannover 96. From 24 June 2010, he was also board member of the club. On 28 November 2011, he took over the job of manager of the second team, Hannover 96 II. In the 2011–12 season, Hannover II finished in sixth place with a record of 14 wins, eight draws and 12 losses. During the 2012–13 season, Hannover II finished in fourth place with a record of 16 wins, six draws, and eight losses. Ismaël left on 30 June 2013.

VfL Wolfsburg II

Ismaël was manager of VfL Wolfsburg II between 1 July 2013 and 5 June 2014. Wolfsburg II won the Regionalliga Nord in the 2013–14 season and lost to Sonnenhof Großaspach in the promotion play-off.

1. FC Nürnberg

Ismaël became the new head coach of 1. FC Nürnberg on 5 June 2014 and won his first match in charge against Erzgebirge Aue 1–0 on 3 August 2014. He went on to lose eight of his next 13 matches and was dismissed on 10 November 2014; three days after a 2–1 loss to SV Sandhausen. He finished with a record of four wins, two draws, and eight losses.

Return to VfL Wolfsburg II

Ismaël returned to VfL Wolfsburg II on 1 June 2015. Repeating the success of his first tenure with the team, Wolfsburg II won the 2015–16 Regionalliga Nord. Once again though, Wolfsburg II lost in the promotion play-off, this time to Jahn Regensburg.

VfL Wolfsburg

First-team head coach Dieter Hecking was dismissed on 17 October 2016 and was…

Ismaël is married to his German wife Karolina. He has a son (born 1995) from his first marriage. On 25 April 2013, Ismaël received German citizenship.