In July 2013 Sevilla FC paid Paris Saint-Germain around seven million euros for Kevin Dominique Gameiro, a French striker born in Senlis (Oise) on 9 May 1987. The move took him to the Spanish league and to the Europa League, which he won three years running with the Andalusian club. He went on to play for Atlético de Madrid and Valencia CF, returned to Strasbourg in 2021 and announced his retirement on 16 March 2025.
Early years in Picardy and Alsace
Gameiro grew up in northern France in a family of Portuguese descent. He started out at Marly-la-Ville, where he played from 1993 to 1999, and moved on to Chantilly until 2004. That year he joined the RC Strasbourg academy, and the club handed him his Ligue 1 debut on 10 September 2005, aged eighteen. In Alsace he went through relegation to Ligue 2 in 2006-07, an immediate promotion and a second relegation in 2007-08. In 2007 he won the Toulon Tournament with France’s under-20 side: he scored five goals in four games, three of them in the final against China (3-1), and was named player of the tournament.
Lorient and the move to PSG
In June 2008 he signed for Ligue 1 side FC Lorient. Over three seasons he scored 50 goals in 108 league games. The 2010-11 campaign was his most productive: he finished with 22 Ligue 1 goals, second in the scoring chart, made the UNFP team of the year and hit a hat-trick against Bordeaux (5-1) in February 2011. In June 2011 Paris Saint-Germain signed him. In Paris he scored 19 goals in 59 league games, including a hat-trick against Ajaccio in October 2011, and was part of the squad that won Ligue 1 in 2012-13.
Three Europa Leagues with Sevilla
He signed a five-year deal with Sevilla and stayed for three, scoring 39 goals in 92 LaLiga games. In the 2013-14 Europa League he was Sevilla’s leading scorer in the competition with six goals. In the final in Turin against Benfica he came on in extra time and converted the last kick of the shoot-out (4-2). The club retained the trophy in 2014-15. In the 2016 final in Basel against Liverpool, Gameiro equalised 17 seconds into the second half; it was his eighth goal of that campaign and Sevilla won 3-1. That season he was named in UEFA’s Europa League squad of the season. In October 2015 he had scored three times against Getafe in a 5-0 win.
Atlético de Madrid
On 30 July 2016 Atlético de Madrid agreed his signing. In two seasons under Diego Simeone he scored 19 goals in 56 league games. In February 2017 he scored a hat-trick against Sporting Gijón (4-1), and in the 2016-17 Champions League he added two goals in nine appearances. In 2018 he won his fourth Europa League, the first away from Sevilla, with Atlético.
Valencia and a return to Strasbourg
Valencia CF made his signing official on 13 August 2018. In his first season he won the 2018-19 Copa del Rey: on 25 May 2019 he opened the scoring in the final against FC Barcelona, which Valencia won 2-1 with a second goal from Rodrigo Moreno. He spent three seasons at Mestalla, scoring 12 goals in 89 league games, and left in June 2021 when his contract expired. On 18 July 2021 he went back to RC Strasbourg on a two-year deal that was later extended by a season. In his second spell in Alsace he scored 25 goals in 96 Ligue 1 games and left the club in 2024.
France national team
Before the senior side he played for the under-21s, making his debut on 26 March 2008 and scoring in a 4-1 win over the Czech Republic. Laurent Blanc gave him his senior France debut on 3 September 2010, in a 1-0 home defeat by Belarus. His first goal came on 6 June 2011 in Donetsk, in a 4-1 win over Ukraine. In all he won 13 caps for France and scored 3 goals.
Honours and retirement
His honours include Ligue 1 in 2012-13 with PSG, the Europa League in 2014, 2015 and 2016 with Sevilla and in 2018 with Atlético de Madrid, the 2018-19 Copa del Rey with Valencia and the 2007 Toulon Tournament with France’s under-20s. After leaving Strasbourg he spent several months without a club, and on 16 March 2025, aged 37, he announced the end of his playing career.
