After Wolves signed midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde in the dying moments of the 2023 summer transfer window on Friday evening, wolves.co.uk explores the Frenchman’s footballing background and what he will add to the first-team squad.
Profile
Name: Jean-Ricner Bellegarde
Date of birth: 27th June 1998
Position: Attacking midfielder
Nationality: France
Clubs: Lens, Strasbourg
Appearances: 254
Goals: 15
Assists: 21
Background
Born in Parisian suburb Colombes, Bellegarde began his career with Lens as a 15-year-old, joining the club’s youth side in 2013 before making his B team debut in the Championnat National two years later. After spells with the senior side, which included more than 50 outings in the second tier of French football, he made the move to Strasbourg, where he has spent the last four years.
During his time at the Alsace-based club, Bellegarde played almost 130 times in the French top flight, becoming a regular in the Strasbourg midfield, as well as featuring in the 2019/20 Europa League, where his team missed out on a spot in the group stages following defeat in the play-off round to Eintracht Frankfurt. He has developed with each passing season, with the 2022/23 campaign being his strongest yet..
He has also improved his showing in front of goal this season, having scored and assisted in both a 2-1 win over Lyon on the opening day of Ligue 1 and a 2-0 victory against Toulouse just last weekend.
Playing style
A player with an abundance of pace and energy, and someone who is really positive on the ball, Bellegarde is expected to occupy the same positions as Matheus Nunes, either playing wide in one of the four attacking positions, as well as playing central.
A lot of his game is about progression and dynamism, carrying the ball forward and helping his team to get up the pitch. His assist numbers are also very impressive over the last 12 months for a number eight type, with the value of his actions on the pitch rated in the top five among central midfielders in the top five leagues in Europe, behind players such as Kevin De Bruyne and Toni Kroos.
A large part of this comes from progressing his team up the pitch with the ball at his feet, where he ranks as number one among all central midfielders in the top five leagues, above players such as De Bruyne and Jude Bellingham in this specific metric (dribble and carry OBV). This ability to dribble into dangerous areas was proven last season, as he won more penalties for his side than any other central midfielder in Europe’s major leagues.
Attitude
Bellegarde has established himself in the last year, and he’s come out of the traps flying in the first three games of the season working under former Arsenal midfielder and Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira – scoring twice and earning two assists, which demonstrates how his contribution at the top end of the pitch is still getting better and – as a late developer – he has the attitude and determination to keep improving year on year.
When looking into his background and searching for references as they do with every player, the recruitment staff at Wolves were very impressed with the reports they were able to gather on Bellegarde’s personality and character. As has been a key aspect of recruitment over the last two transfer windows, the club have been prioritising bringing ‘good eggs’ into the club, and from their social media checks as well as speaking to people who know him and people who have played with him, everything they have found has been overwhelmingly positive.
Recruitment
Wolves’ first report on Bellegarde was submitted on 11th May 2018 where Alex Acton, who is still at the club, reported on his performance for Lens against Auxerre, as he captained the side at 19. Since then, the club has appointed a regional coordinator based in France, Romain Barq, who has carried out a lot of diligent work on the midfielder for the last three seasons, as Bellegarde has continued to improve his game to a level where he has exploded at the start of this campaign.
Wolves’ recruitment department have analysed the data to help identify Bellegarde as a player that fits to what Matt Hobbs and Gary O’Neil are looking for, as well as subjectively believing that Bellegarde is entering his peak years as a footballer.
The team feel he will provide dynamism and the ability to play across the midfield in its current shape, as well as now beginning to contribute more at the top end of the pitch too in terms of his goals and assist numbers too. Although the turnaround time was quick in this instance, the recruitment team are always prepared for every scenario and believe that the work done over an extended period was crucial in recommending Bellegarde as we look to add that dynamism, versatility and quality at the top end of the pitch.
