Teddy Teuma’s rise to becoming one of Ligue 1’s standout players has certainly been unconventional. After spending most of his career in the lower leagues of French football and at Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise, Teuma returned to France last summer with Stade de Reims. And at the age of 30, the Malta international has undoubtedly been one of the breakout stars in his maiden Ligue 1 campaign.
By Luke Bissett
Born in France, Teuma started out his career with fourth division side Hyères, balancing football with working as a delivery driver for his father’s butcher’s shop. He then enjoyed successful spells at Boulogne-sur-Mer and Red Star before joining Union Saint-Gilloise in the Belgian second tier in January 2019.
Teuma quickly found his feet at USG, helping lead the club back to the top-flight for the first time in 48 years. The midfielder became a key figure in the Belgian capital, captaining the side to consecutive top three finishes in the Belgian Pro League. His final season in Brussels also saw Saint-Gilloise reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League, with Teuma scoring 14 goals and providing 17 assists across all competitions in 2022-23.
This prompted Stade de Reims to sign the midfielder last summer, offering him the chance to play in the top tier of his birth country for the very first time. And it’s an opportunity that Tuema has grasped with both hands. The 30-year-old has been one of the revelations of the season – spearheading the Red and Whites to their best start to a Ligue 1 campaign for 49 years.
Teuma’s start to life in the Champagne region couldn’t have really gone any better, with the midfielder scoring once and providing two assists on his first start. He has slotted seamlessly into Reims’ midfield three, giving Will Still’s side a completely new dimension in and out of possession.
One of Teuma’s most impressive attributes is the fact that he is a persistent goal threat. Only five sides netted fewer goals in Ligue 1 than the Red and Whites last term (45), while 21 of those were scored by departed loanee Folarin Balogun. Therefore, the Reims hierarchy placed an almighty emphasis on adding more goals to the side during last summer’s transfer window, and it’s more than paid off.
No player has been directly involved in more Ligue 1 goals for Reims this season than Teuma (five goals & two assists). The midfielder’s perfectly timed runs have posed constant headaches for opposition defenders, with his delayed surges to the edge of the box often going unmarked.
The Malta international ranks inside the top 10 for both shots (30) and shots on target (10) among Ligue 1 midfielders, while he is already beginning to boast an enviable goal highlight reel. Teuma offers a huge presence in the final third – often from outside the penalty area, as he showed to lethal effect with a fine strike against Monaco in Reims’ most recent league victory.
Teuma is deployed on the left of midfield in Still’s fluid system and is afforded the license to roam up and down the pitch. This enables the 30-year-old to act as the creative hub in the side, repeatedly looking to break opposition lines with his penetrative passes.
By boasting more positional freedom, he often drifts in between the lines to help progress the ball from back-to-front. Teuma is extremely effective in these tight spaces and can operate as the side’s playmaker from these positions – no player has created more secondary chances than Teuma in Ligue 1 across 2023-24 (22).
Reims are a transition-based side under Still and constantly look to descend upon opponents at break-neck speed, with Teuma always at the heart of every attack. He floats into the half spaces, providing a forward option before turning and picking out one of the side’s ever-willing dynamic forwards.
The 30-year-old possesses a range of passing in his armoury, threading passes through to teammates over varying distances. Another string to his bow is the fact that he is a dead ball specialist. The midfielder has quickly adopted the role of Reims’ set-piece taker, with his accurate deliveries the type that forward players thrive on. He has also attempted the eighth most crosses in France’s top flight this season.
The Malta international is equally effective off-the-ball, aggressively harrying opponents with tenacious pressure to regain possession. The combative midfielder has won 27 tackles in Ligue 1 this season – the 10th most of any player, and explosively looks to transition defence into attack upon winning the ball. Teuma can then exploit the vast amounts of space left behind by opponents through his extremely powerful running or by playing an incisive pass to a teammate.
Reims currently sit in sixth place in Ligue 1, just five points behind the Champions League spots. Remarkably, this may even bring in to play the alleged €2million bonus in the deal with USG should Teuma win the Champions League with Reims!
Though the chances of that may be slim, few will disagree with the instant impact that the Malta international has made in the Champagne region. And it should come as no surprise to any that former courier Teddy Teuma is consistently delivering in France’s top division.
(Images from IMAGO)
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