Former Strasbourg striker Kevin Gameiro announces retirement | OneFootball

After nearly 20 seasons of top-flight club football, Kevin Gameiro (37) is officially hanging up his boots.

In an interview with beIN Sports Sunday, the Frenchman, who played the previous three campaigns at RC Strasbourg Alsace, said: “It’s been six to eight months since I last played football, and you have to make a decision. I was lucky to have had a very good career. I would never have imagined that being very little. It’s the end of an adventure and a new life that’s starting. That was the best way to end my career. I had a little wish to continue for a year or two, but I didn’t find the right project, the right club to continue.”

The striker born in Senlis made his senior debut at Strasbourg in the 2005-06 Ligue 1 campaign, making eight appearances caps that season and scoring once. After three seasons with the club from Alsace, Gameiro moved to Brittany, joining FC Lorient in 2008 where he would remain for another three seasons before joining Paris Saint-Germain.

While he was a Ligue 1 champion at PSG in 2012-13, some of his best campaigns occurred when he played in La Liga. Gameiro had 16 goals in his first domestic season at Sevilla in 2013-14, netting 16 times in that competition two seasons later.

He helped them win the UEFA Europa League in each of his three seasons with the club from Andalusia before signing with Atlético Madrid for a reported €23m. He found the back of the net 19 times in two top-flight campaigns with them, winning another Europa League title in 2017-18.

In February 2017, he scored a memorable hat trick, netting three times after coming on in the 62nd minute of a match versus Sporting Gijón which his side won 4-1. At the time it was the fastest La Liga hat trick in 22 years.

After two seasons with them, he moved to Valencia, where his goalscoring declined, netting 16 goals in three La Liga campaigns, though he was a part of the team that won the Copa del Rey in 2018-19.

He returned to his childhood club, Strasbourg, in July 2021 and played another three seasons with them, scoring 25 goals and registering five assists. On the international stage, he picked up 13 senior caps for Les Bleus, scoring three goals.

Gameiro burst onto the international scene at the 2007 Toulon Tournament, scoring five goals in four matches, including a hat trick in the final versus China as France lifted that trophy with a 3-1 win. He was named the Player of the Tournament.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre