Former Chelsea winger Florent Malouda today celebrates his 40th birthday.

The Frenchman spent six seasons at Stamford Bridge, racking up 45 goals in 229 appearances for the club.

His trophy cabinet as a blue is very impressive with a Premier League title and three FA Cups to his name, as well as a winner’s medal from that night in Munich.

Now retired, he can look back upon what was a very successful footballing career which also some him feature 80 times for France.

He is now an ambassador for UEFA and recently spent a short time in coaching at FC Zurich.

After making an appearance as a guest at half time at home to Liverpool in the cup this season, let’s recap on Malouda’s time at the Bridge.

Lyon to London

Chelsea secured the services of Malouda in July 2007 after beating the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid to his signature.

His first season saw him feature 38 times for the Blues with 4 goals and 7 assists.

In the 2008/09 season, he was a key player in the side’s FA Cup win against Everton as he assisted Didier Drogba’s equaliser.

Malouda should have been on the scoresheet himself, but his long-range strike was deemed not to have crossed the line, despite replays saying otherwise.

Flourishing Frenchman

The arrival of Carlo Ancelotti at the start of the 2009/10 season was a big factor in the Blues’ double winning campaign that season.

In an interview on the Chelsea website, Malouda said:

“Playing under Carlo was great in terms of results, but also in terms of human experience.

“At the same time, he was so humble.”

Malouda enjoyed a stellar season under the management of Ancelotti with 15 goals and 15 assists throughout the campaign.

He also won the Chelsea Players’ Player of the Year award at the end of the season.

Throughout the 2010/11 season the winger once again showed his class netting another 14 goals in all competitions and scoring Chelsea’s first league goal in a 6-0 win on the opening day at home to West Brom.

European glory

His last season playing in a Chelsea shirt wasn’t necessarily his best, but he did collect winner’s medals for both the Champions League and the FA Cup.

He started as a substitute in the final in Munich and came on to replace Ryan Bertrand.

He also scored in the Blue’s 5-1 thrashing of Spurs in the FA Cup semi-final, before making another appearance as a sub in the final against Liverpool.

Chelsea released Malouda in the summer of 2013 after making no appearances in a blue shirt during that season, and went on to join Trabzonspor in Turkey.

Overall, Malouda enjoyed huge success as Chelsea’s no. 15.

In six years at the club he collected 5 major honours and featured in two Champions League finals.

It was a shame his Chelsea career ended the way it did, but fans can look back on him as a key player throughout much of his time at Stamford Bridge.

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