Author of an XXL 2021-2022 exercise for Stade Rennais, with 21 goals and 5 assists in all competitions, Martin Terrier has since never managed to confirm. Even if he did it again with 12 goals in 22 games the following season, the player trained at LOSC gradually lost his way, not spared from injuries. Transferred to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2024 for nearly 20 million euros, the 28-year-old did not have time to convince Xabi Alonso last season: 2 goals and 2 assists in 20 games. “I was impressed from the first training sessions by the intensity shown by the players, but also by the coach. In my previous clubs, training sessions were often led by the assistants. Here, Xabi Alonso is there 100%, it is he who leads the session with his deputies, but it is mainly he who has the floor. We really feel a lot of intensity in the sessions”declared the former OL player in the podcast After Germany shortly after its debut.
While Rennes tried to repatriate him last summer, Martin Terrier ultimately remained in Germany, in order to finally be able to show the full extent of his talent. But, for the moment, he has not yet played a single minute at the start of the season. Worse, he was not even included in the list of Bayer Leverkusen players eligible to play in the Champions League. He had already suffered a rupture of the cruciate ligaments in his right knee against Nice in January 2023 when he was still playing in Rennes. “I felt my leg weak. Like a loose rope. I immediately understood that this was something I had never experienced.”. Almost two years later to the day, the French striker was injured during Bayer Leverkusen's victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach (3-1, 18th day of the Bundesliga), after tearing his right Achilles tendon. He had missed the entire end of the 2024-2025 season.
A return earlier than expected?
Never selected by Didier Deschamps for the French team, the striker Vizekusen could soon be back in the Bundesliga. As revealed by the German weekly Kickerthe Frenchman is back among the candidates for a place in the team following several weeks of training. However, given the large number of competitors in the offensive sector in Kasper Hjulmand's ranks, his chances of making the squad are, at first glance, slim. In competition with Malik Tillman, recruited from PSV Eindhoven, Eliesse Ben Seghir, bought for 32 million euros from AS Monaco, Claudio Echeverri, on loan from Man City, Ibrahim Maza, arrived from Hertha BSC for 12 million euros, or even with the veteran Jonas Hofmann, Terrier sees his chances of playing tomorrow against Mainz diminish.
But according to the German magazine, the 28-year-old would still have a small chance of playing again in the coming days. Indeed, the former Lyonnais could serve as an alternative to Ernest Poku, who, when Leverkusen is in possession of the ball, evolves like a corridor player, and moves to his side to provide depth thanks to his speed. Arriving in the shoes of a left winger in 2024, Terrier would be perfectly suited to this position of understudy of the Dutch prodigy. However, the best way to get back into the squad is probably through the number 9 position. Patrik Schick is likely to miss Saturday's match against Mainz, as he is not yet fully recovered from his thigh injury. Hjulmand would then find himself without any other center forward than Christian Kofane (19 years old), who should therefore be the starter. The versatility of the former Rennais is the fundamental argument for being back as quickly as possible.
