Fabien Barthez: Former Man United keeper in line for shock new France role

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·25 June 2026

Fabien Barthez: Former Man United keeper in line for shock new France role

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Fabien Barthez could be in line for a shock return to the French national team set-up.

United career

Barthez joined Manchester United from AS Monaco in the summer of 2000.

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The Frenchman brought a cavalier style of goalkeeping to England that did not fit with the traditional method of keeping goal.

His eccentricity on the ball would sometimes bring gasps of joy and desperation from the Old Trafford crowd.

Barthez played 139 matches for the club, winning two Premier League titles in 2001 and 2003.

He left for Olympique de Marseille in the summer of 2004 after spending the previous season on loan at the club.

The keeper also had immense success internationally, playing 87 times for his nation and winning the World Cup in 1998 and the Euros in 2000.

Post-playing career

The 54-year-old retired in 2006 and became the honorary president of Championnat National team Luzenac.

Barthez was also part of the French national team’s technical staff in 2010 when Laurent Blanc was appointed manager.

He also interestingly enjoyed a return to sport but in motor racing, participating in the Le Mans 24 hour event in 2014, 2016 and 2017.

Potential new role

French newspaper L’Equipe has claimed that Barthez could be on the cusp of joining up once again with France when Didier Deschamps leaves his role after the current World Cup.

The paper reports that, “Zinédine Zidane, the likely future coach, is working behind the scenes to make his former teammate the goalkeeping coach for the French national team.”

The article continues, “a strong bond endures between the two men. The idea is audacious and would remind those in their forties (and older) of a golden age: appointing his former teammate on the French national team, Fabien Barthez, as goalkeeping coach, replacing Franck Raviot, who has been working with the national team’s goalkeepers (and previously with the U21s) for sixteen years.”

The two men have a very close relationship from their playing days and Barthez “is reportedly enthusiastic about joining the coaching staff with a generation of players he knows to be brilliant.”