Who is Tigres UANL’s New Frenchman, Timothée Kolodziejczak?

This Monday, Sept. 4 Tigres UANL made a series of last minute signings before the transfer window closed to try and strengthen its already imposing side. Among the most interesting one was the acquisition of French defender Timothée Kolodziejczak from German Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach.

‘Kolo’ made his professional debut back in 2008 with French Ligue 1 side Lyon in a game against Paris Saint Germain. The Young defender’s time with Les Gones was not very eventful, not having much participation with the first team. Kolodziejczak departed Lyon for Nice in 2012 and that is when his career really started to flourish, getting much more playing time with the principality side. His good form with Nice earned him a move to Spanish La Liga team Sevilla where he won two UEFA Europa League titles.

His time in Spain came to the end this year as the Frenchman was receiving limited playing time with Sevilla. Kolodziejczak’s next destination was Germany with Borussia Mönchengladbach but after only one Bundesliga appearance off the bench, the 25-year-old has joined his countryman Andre-Pierre Gignac with Tigres UANL. The last Frenchman that was not named Gignac to play for Tigres, Andy Delort, did not have a very successful stint with the club. ‘Kolo’ is still very young at 25 years old and is perhaps looking to revive his career and even seek attention from the French national team like Gignac did with his success in Mexico.

Kolodziejczak has played with the French national team’s youth teams up to the U20 level but has never received a call to the main team. The Frenchman is versatile as he can play as both a left-back and centre-back but he will need to earn his playing time with the team. Club captain Juninho will still be out due to injury for at least a couple more weeks while Jorge Torres Nilo is just returning from an injury. Francisco Meza has been doing solid work replacing Juninho in that centre-back role and with Ricardo Ferretti at the helm, it is unlikely that ‘Kolo’ will just slide into Tigres’ starting 11.