On the 17^th August 2014, the gates at the then newly-renovated Stade Vélodrome opened for the first-time, as Marcello Bielsa’s Marseille took the pitch in their first home game of the season. An air of expectation was almost tangible in the tribunes, where expectant Marseillaises were eager to see a first win in the new Bielsa era, against a travelling Montpellier outfit.

However, just 18 minutes into the Argentine’s home debut as OM head coach, the ground fell silent thanks to a shock opening goal, courtesy of the away side’s number seven, Anthony Mounier.

The damage would eventually be doubled and the home side would suffer a unexpected two-nil defeat, but the audacious manner in which Mounier lobbed Steve Mandanda from the edge of the OM captain’s area would leave the perfect warning sign of what the left-sided winger would be capable of throughout the rest of the campaign.

The 27-year-old now looks set to be leaving the club where he has spent the last three years, after what he described in an interview as the ‘best season of my career’. He is a player who possesses flair, drive and creativity, and he would almost certainly become a fan favourite if he could continue his form from this season into his next campaign with another club after the summer break.

In a similar fashion to many of its high profile graduates, including Karim Benzema and Alexandre Lacazette, Mounier was first spotted by regional youth scouts from Olympique Lyonnais’ academy, whilst competing as an 11-year-old in the Rhône-Alpes youth league. The young Mounier then moved from his hometown of Aubenas to Lyon, where he would spend nine years in the academy before breaking through to the first-team set-up under the then head coach Claude Puel.

He was handed his first-team debut in 2008 against Toulouse, coming on as a substitute in a three-two victory for Les Gones. He began to play more regularly in the 2008-2009 season, scoring five times from the left wing and making four UEFA Champions League appearances for Puel’s side. Mounier however made just half of his appearances during that season as a first-eleven starter, and he then made an attempt in the ensuing transfer window to gain more regular first-team football by making a move to OL’s Ligue 1 rivals Nice.

Mounier spent three successful seasons at the club, making over a hundred first-team appearances, scoring seventeen goals and assisting twenty times. He then caught the eye of René Girard, who had won the Ligue 1 title the season before, and lured the left-winger to the club in attempt to strengthen the club’s squad for their Champions League campaign. He has gone on to be a regular success with the club, playing under both Girard and current coach Rolland Courbis.

The 27-year-old’s performances in the 2014-2015 campaign were quite simply emphatic, and he was instrumental in almost every single high point of success that Montpellier had throughout a season in which they finished in a respectable seventh place in the Ligue 1 standings. What was most obvious about Mounier’s campaign was the fact that he was a constant source of creativity and inspiration for Courbis’ side, providing no fewer than seven assists for his teammates throughout the season, including an assist in each of the club’s two victories against Olympique de Marseille.

Mounier demonstrated often this year the desirable skill he has in being able to pick teammates out with out-swinging left-footed crosses from corners, a capability which he used to set up headed goals for his side in fixtures against Caen and Nice. He is blessed with natural pace and loves to run at full-backs, using trickery to go by them. What makes him especially deadly is the fact that on several occasions this season he demonstrated his ability to play key through-balls whilst making driving runs of his own on counter-attacks. One of his best assists of the season came against Rennes in December when, bursting forward on the left-wing from a counter, he played a delightful side-foot pass to find Morgan Sanson, who slotted neatly past Benoît Costil. It is this type of ingenuity which helped Mounier this season to become one of the continent’s most creative players, as Opta stats revealed that only five players in Europe created more chances than the Montpellier number seven during the 2014-2015 campaign.

As well as creating chances, Mounier is a proven goal scorer in his own right, having bagged nine goals this season in Ligue 1, making him his side’s second-top scorer. As a pacey and direct player, he often makes darting runs in behind opposition defences which effectively makes him appear as a sort of ‘third striker’ for Courbis’ side. This skill was evident when he darted into the six-yard box against Évian Thonon-Gaillard to seal the three points, grabbing his side’s second goal with a cool right-footed finish. He is also a composed finisher when he finds himself in striking positions with time, which he demonstrated when he calmly finished against Rennes in December after beating the offside trap.

Despite having had a stunning season at the Stade de la Mosson, Mounier looks set to leave Courbis’ side. Speaking recently to RMC, the winger told listeners that he wanted to ‘discover other things’ within the game, and with just one year left on his deal at Montpellier the club’s directors look resigned to allowing him to leave. Speaking on Wednesday night on the radio station’s ‘Luis Attaque’ show, the club’s president Louis Nicollin said that he would allow the player to leave for around £1.5 to £2.5million, and that Olympiakos, Rangers and another Scottish club (presumably Celtic) were ‘in negotiations’ with his son Laurent, vice-president of the club. He has also recently been linked with Premier League new boys Watford, and after such an impressive season in Ligue 1, a move for the 27-year-old would surely be an exciting prospect for fans.

News of Mounier’s potential departure will be hard to take for Montpellier supporters who have grown to adore their number seven, but one thing is sure – he would be leaving Mosson after giving the club his all in his last season there. A departure is probably a sensible choice for both the player and the club, as it makes financial sense for Montpellier, given the stage at which Mounier is at in his contract, and it is probably the perfect time for the former Lyon man to leave French football after around eight years of playing at top-flight level in his native country, while still being at a relatively early stage in his career.