Paul Le Guen

Le Guen was born in Pencran, Finistère. During his playing career, he played at Brest for five years and Nantes Atlantique for two years, before leaving his home region of Brittany for Paris Saint-Germain. In seven seasons at the Parc des Princes, he made 478 appearances, winning a league title, three French Cups, two League Cups and the Cup Winners' Cup medal in 1996. Le Guen scored the winning goal in the 1995 Coupe de France Final against Strasbourg.

At international level, Le Guen played 17 times for France, due to injuries and he was part of the team which lost out on a trip to the 1994 FIFA World Cup, along with Eric Cantona and David Ginola. He ended his playing career by taking part in a friendly where Brittany faced Cameroon on 21 May 1998. The match finished in a 1–1 draw.

Le Guen had a successful managerial career in France, most notably leading Olympique Lyonnais to three consecutive Ligue 1 titles. He has also managed Stade Rennais, Paris Saint-Germain, Rangers, the Cameroon national team, the Oman national team, Bursaspor and Le Havre. In July 2016, he was to be named manager of the Nigeria national team, but didn't agree to the contract terms.

Rennes

During his time at Rennes between 1998 and 2001, Le Guen was noted for signing then unknown players, such as Shabani Nonda and El Hadji Diouf, who under his guidance, developed into talented footballers. He resigned from Rennes in 2001 after a fall-out with the club's board. This led to him taking a year off from football.

Lyon

Le Guen replaced Jacques Santini as manager of Olympique Lyonnais on 21 May 2002 after they captured their first league title. Le Guen experienced a grim start to his managerial career at Lyon, winning only three games of the first nine, but eventually took Lyon to a further three consecutive championships and reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-final. He resigned from his position at Lyon on 9 May 2005, the day after the club won their fourth consecutive Ligue 1 championship, with Gérard Houllier taking over. After leaving the club, Le Guen embarked upon another year away from football management. During this time, he turned down management positions at several top European clubs, including Benfica and Lazio, and also stated that he would not…

Le Guen met his wife Claude during his studies for a master's degree in Economic Sciences at the University of Western Brittany in Brest. As of 2006, they have three children. Le Guen ran the Marathon des Sables in the Moroccan desert in 2006.