Top facts about Olivier Dacourt, Leeds United Legend

Olivier Dacourt is a French footballer who was born on September 25, 1974 in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis. He was a midfielder for the team.

Olivier Dacourt’s age

is 47. Here you can find out the most important facts about Olivier Dacourt, ex-Leeds and

star.

Olivier Dacourt, a fan favorite at Leeds United, retired from the game in 2010 following a six-month stint at Standard Liege in Belgium.

During his time at Everton, Dacourt was a fan favorite, but he departed under a cloud after growing disillusioned with the club's lack of ambition and what he alleged were a series of unfulfilled promises by the administration.

After returning to France with Lens, his impressive performances earned him a move back to the Premier League with Leeds United, who paid a club record £7.2 million for his services in 2000.

In his first season, he helped Leeds to a top four finish in the Premier League and a Champions League semi-final.

An important fact about Olivier Dacourt is that he played with

, making over 400 first-team matches and won the Serie A championship twice, as well as the Intertoto Cup and the French League Cup with Strasbourg.

On the international stage, he made 21 appearances for France and was a part of the squads that won the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2001 and 2003.

Dacourt returned to France after retiring from professional football and began a new career in broadcasting, first with RMC Radio and subsequently on television for French networks Eurosport and Telefoot.

He worked for Eurosport for five years before leaving in 2016 to join Canal Plus in France, where he is currently one of their top pundits. Dacourt holds a diploma in professional sports club general administration in addition to his media career.

A notable fact about Olivier Dacourt is that he was one of a number of investors who successfully sued Donald Trump in 2016 after a deal to open a luxury hotel project in Lower Manhattan called "Trump SoHo" never materialized, according to the New York Times.

Top facts about Olivier Dacourt:

Dacourt joined Everton in 1998, and his first Premier League match was a 0–0 draw against

on August 15, 1998. He scored his first goal in a League Cup encounter against Huddersfield Town on September 23, 1998.

Dacourt became a fan favorite among Everton fans, but he was booed during the club's last home game of the season against West Ham in May 1999 following statements in a French newspaper indicating he was unhappy at the club and planning to leave in the summer.

Olivier Dacourt early life

Speaking about

Olivier Dacourt’s childhood

, it should be mentioned that he was born in the Seine-Saint-Denis town of Montreuil. On March 20, 1993, he made his Division 1 debut for Strasbourg in a 2–0 loss to Auxerre in an away game.

He scored his first Ligue 1 goal for Strasbourg in an away encounter against

on May 24, 1997, although Strasbourg lost 2–1.

Olivier Dacourt professional career

Olivier Dacourt was one of the best Premier League midfielders of the early 2000s.

He was part of the Leeds United team which reached the Champions League semi-finals, and a key player in David O’Leary’s side.

But after O’Leary was fired and replaced with Terry Venables, Dacourt’s Leeds career began to come to an end.

He joined Roma on loan, before the move was made permanent. He spent three years at Roma, but like at Leeds, was unable to win any silverware. This was eventually changed with a move to Inter Milan, which was rewarded with two league titles in 2006 and 2007.

Olivier Dacourt club career

Olivier Dacourt enjoyed a season at Everton and then Lens, before joining Leeds United for a club record £7.2 million.

RC Strasbourg

An important fact about Olivier Dacourt is that he began his professional career with RC Strasbourg during the 1992-1993 season of the 1st division French championship, playing only 6 games, 8 in 1994, and 18 in 1995.

RC Strasbourg

Jacky Duguépéroux, the new RCS coach and former director of the training center, made Olivier Dacourt a key player in the Strasbourg workforce beginning in the 1995 off-season.

Racing won the Intertoto Cup, qualifying for the UEFA Cup, alongside experienced players such as Sauzée, Vencel, the "tsar" Mostovoi, and future French internationals such as Lebuf, Keller, Djetou, and Garde. After two 1-0 and 2-1 defeats, the adventure comes to an end in the round of 16 against Maldini's

, Weah, and

.

Racing won its first national title since 1979 in 1996–97, bringing the League Cup back to Strasbourg after a penalty shootout victory over Girondins de Bordeaux, and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the second time.

And RC Strasbourg has had a successful UEFA Cup campaign, with victories over Glasgow Rangers and Liverpool. Racing beat Ronaldo and Djorkaeff's Inter Milan 2-0 in the round of 16 at the Meinau stadium, but was eliminated from the competition after a 3-0 defeat in the second leg. Olivier Dacourt will leave Strasbourg at the end of the season.

Everton Football Club and RC Lens

A notable fact about Olivier Dacourt is that he joined Everton FC in order to embark on an international adventure with former French champions such as Bakayoko and Collins. In the Premier League, he appeared in 30 games and scored two goals as the club finished 14th.

After only one season in England, Dacourt returned to France and rejoined RC Lens, where he also had a successful European career, reaching the UEFA Cup semi-finals against Arsenal's Gunners.

Leeds United

He then returned to the Premier League with Leeds United, who were then nearing European peaks, and at Elland Road, we began to dream of a status comparable to Manchester United's.

President Peter Ridsdale pulls out the portfolio and signs a slew of talented players, including Rio Ferdinand,

, Robbie Keane, and Harry Kewell. Dacourt played in his second consecutive European Cup semi-final, but this time in the Champions League, against FC Valence.

The following season, the club finishes fifth and misses out on C1 qualification by one point, resulting in Leeds' forfeiture, and the club is forced to sell its key players, including Olivier Dacourt.

A.S. Roma

In January 2003, he moved to Serie A and AS Roma, where he was initially loaned for six months by Leeds before being purchased by the Roman club.

Roma had a fantastic season in 2003-2004, finishing second in the championship behind AC Milan. Olivier Dacourt is having a good season, which has earned him a spot in the group of 23 blues at Euro 2004 just a year after winning the Confederations Cup in 2003.

The following season was more difficult for the Giallorossi, who were beset by serious financial difficulties.

AS Roma must part ways with Walter Samuel, who has joined

, while Jonathan Zebina and Emerson follow coach Fabio Capello, who has joined Juventus.

Coach Cesare Prandelli, who was appointed to replace Fabio Capello after he resigned, is replaced at the start of the season by

.

An important

fact about Olivier Dacourt

is that he is becoming less and less titular as a result of physical glitches. AS Roma had a disastrous start to the season, prompting Völler to resign at the end of September. He is replaced as the season's third coach by Luigi Del Neri.

The latter will be unable to straighten the bar of the Roman ship, which will finish the championship with an anonymous eighth place and a loss in the Italian Cup final to Inter. Despite this, Dacourt will play 25 games in the 2004-2005 season, including two in the Champions League.

The 2005-2006 school year begins with the same change of trainer. It is now Luciano Spalletti's turn to take on the challenge of Capello's replacement. Despite a hampered start to the season due to injury, Dacourt has established himself as the undisputed champion.

The club, which had been languishing in the middle of the table, returned to the top, most notably by winning eleven consecutive league games, a Serie A record at the time.

Coach Raymond Domenech rejected Olivier Dacourt, but the club adopted and recognized him. Football in Italy Unfortunately, the season concludes with Roma failing to qualify for the Champions League and losing to Inter in the Italian Cup final for the second time.

Finally, the 2005-2006 season was marked by the Calcio match-fixing scandal, in which Juve and AC Milan were implicated; this allows AS Roma to find a vice-championship spot and plan "serenely" for the 2007 season without Dacourt, who departs the Roman club.

Internazionale

He was transferred to Inter Milan, where he had an excellent season, establishing himself as an indisputable starter despite tough competition (Vieira, Cambiasso and ...), and was even voted best rookie of the year by the Italian sports daily, Gazzetta dello Sport, ahead of his teammate Hernán Crespo (passed from Chelsea to Inter) and Adrian Mutu (passed from Juventus to Fiorentina).

Inter won its first championship (on the field) since 1989 at the end of this season, but was eliminated in the knockout stages of the Champions League by

.

He injured his cruciate ligaments in December 2007 and was sidelined for more than six months the following season. Despite playing only 9 games, his club won the Scudetto.

Dacourt had previously lost two Italian Cup finals with Roma to Inter (in 2005 and 2006), but this time he lost two finals with Inter to Roma (2007 and 2008).

José Mourinho took over as manager of Manchester United in the off-season of 2008. It is not the "great love" between the two. When Dacourt was playing for Roma and Mourinho was coaching Chelsea, Dacourt injured Robben, prompting Mourinho to exclaim, "Dacourt is an assassin!"

Then Olivier Dacourt responded, saying that he was a great coach but not a great footballer, so there were no lessons to be learned from him. Due to competition, he plays very little, if at all (only 1 match).

Olivier Dacourt career ending

An important

fact about Olivier Dacourt

is that he returned to England on loan from Inter during the 2008-2009 season, this time to

.

On September 23, 2009, after nearly 5 months of being without a club and without a contract, he signed a one-year contract with the Belgian club Standard de Liège, with an option for an additional year (16).

Standard and Olivier Dacourt agreed to end their collaboration on February 8, 2010, after only three starts and five appearances. Olivier Dacourt slammed Coach László Bölöni on this occasion. On March 16, 2010, Olivier Dacourt decides to call it quits.

Olivier Dacourt international playing career

A notable

fact about Olivier Dacourt

is that he won the Military World Cup in 1995 with the French military team led by Roger Lemerre, which included players such as Dhorasoo, Sleep, and Alicarte.

Despite not being selected for the France U23 team, he was chosen by Raymond Domenech to compete in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where he was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Portugal despite the presence of future great international players such as Robert Pirès, Sylvain Wiltord, and

.

For the first time, Roger Lemerre named him to the France A team for the 2001 Confederations Cup, which he won. On May 30, 2001, Olivier Dacourt was named to the France A team for the first time during the competition against South Korea (victory of France 5-0). He appeared in three matches during the Blues' championship season and showed great promise.

A notable fact about Olivier Dacourt is that he was not chosen by Roger Lemerre for the 2002 World Cup. However, Jacques Santini chose him on a regular basis between 2002 and 2004, despite the fact that he was not a holder, often bypassing Vieira, Makélélé, or even Pedretti.

He was named to the France team for the 2003 Confederations Cup, which Les Bleus won again, as well as Euro 2004. Raymond Domenech chose him to play two qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup against the Republic of Ireland and Cyprus in October 2004.

Olivier Dacourt media career

On September 30, 2010, he joined the RMC Dream Team, where he intervenes in Luis Attaque alongside Luis Fernandez. From September 2011 to May 2012, he was a weekly columnist in Le Grand After. He left RMC in 2013.

Following a few appearances on Canal+, specifically on the Specialists set. Olivier Dacourt joined Eurosport in January 2011 to commentate on the Coupe de France before moving on to TF1 a few days later to work on the Téléfoot program.

Along with Xavier Gravelaine and Lionel Charbonnier, he was a consultant for Eurosport in 2013-2014, commentating on Ligue 2 matches and the program Soir de Coupe.

During Euro 2016, he was a member of Europe 1. He appears almost daily in Thomas Thouroude's Europe1 Football Club as "indisputable holder," alongside other notables such as Jessica Houara-d'Hommeaux, Éric Blanc, Jean-Pierre Bernès, and Chérif Ghemmour.

He left Eurosport in 2016 to join Canal+ 12. He is a member of the Canal Football Club in particular.

Some quick facts about Olivier Dacourt:

Olivier Dacourt refuses to consume Mars bars. He's not going to eat them in Liverpool, and he's not going to eat them in Leeds. He isn't going to eat them anyplace, not here, nor there. Olivier Dacourt refuses to consume Mars Bars.

Olivier Dacourt, like other Frenchmen joining English football in the 1990s, was taken aback by the lack of regard for sports science.

When he first played in the Premier League with Everton in 1998/99, the silky Frenchman was keen to inform L'Équipe about his nutritional needs.

"The players don't have a defined diet. The guys consume whatever is laying around on the bus and in the locker room (Mars bars, chocolate, etc.) They're sipping Coke from huge beer glasses at the hotel for away games. You are free to eat and drink anything you want."

If the cuisine didn't appeal to his refined French taste, the techniques were equally straightforward.

"No one knows who is playing for the other side until they get onto the field." If you're a foreigner, you'll have to watch TV to learn about the other squad.

Before the game, the gaffer [Walter Smith] says just two words: "Good Luck" – and a piece of paper on the dressing room wall instructs us on what to do on corners and free-kicks, which we spend approximately 10 minutes on in Thursday training sessions.

Despite the tough character of English football, Dacourt was not put off by his experience at Everton, and after a short return to Ligue 1 with Lens, he returned to England with Leeds in 2000.

David O'Leary was the manager of a young but ambitious Leeds team, and Dacourt was instrumental in their success both at home and abroad.

Leeds' squad was characterized by

as "rock and roll football, exciting to watch and a little wild." Dacourt, on the other hand, reveled in the chaos, contributing to their famed Champions League run to the semi-finals in 2000/01.

He told The Athletic, "We didn't win anything. That is correct, and it is unfortunate. That's something I wish we'd done. But, as a group, don't we leave an impression? Perhaps memories are more valuable than awards. They could be the greatest.

That Leeds squad never lived up to its enormous potential, owing primarily to financial mismanagement, and Dacourt's days at Elland Road were numbered when O'Leary was replaced by Terry Venables.

If his dislike of Mars bars was bad enough, his feelings on Venables were far worse. "I don't like Terry Venables, the guy, and I don't like his management." Terry Venables is someone I dislike."

Dacourt was quickly on the move after being dropped by Venables, this time to Serie A championship rivals Roma. Venables was renowned for saying that he would "personally drive" him to Italy.

Dacourt would go on to win two Serie A championships with Inter Milan, Roma's arch-rivals, before retiring in 2010.

Since his retirement, the former French international has worked as a commentator, appearing on Canal + panels on a regular basis.

He's also started a documentary series called "Je ne suis pas un singe," which focuses on racial inequity in the game. Mario Balotelli, Patrick Vieira, and Samuel Eto'o have all appeared in the show, which focuses on the lives of black players on and off the field.

Dacourt returned to France following a season with Everton to play for RC Lens, impressing enough to secure a multimillion-pound transfer back to the Premier League with Leeds United in Yorkshire.

An important fact about Olivier Dacourt is that he moved from Lens to Leeds United for £7.2 million in 2000, breaking the club's transfer record at the time.

With his combative style and ball-winning abilities, he became an immediate idol at Elland Road. During his stay at Leeds, the club reached the Champions League semi-finals and finished in the Premier League's top four.

Under manager David O'Leary, he was a regular in center midfield, primarily alongside David Batty in the heart of Leeds' midfield.

Dacourt's performances at Leeds earned him a spot on the French national team. After O'Leary was fired, Terry Venables replaced him and dropped Dacourt from the Leeds squad, preferring players like Paul Okon ahead of him in the pecking order.

Venables and Dacourt had a public spat, with Venables claiming he'would personally push Dacourt out of the club. With Leeds financial issues, Dacourt was loaned out to Roma, and during his time there, Venables was ousted and replaced by Peter Reid, with many expecting Dacourt to return, but his loan to Roma was made permanent over the summer.

After participating in his old teammate Lucas Radebe's testimonial, Dacourt said that he would want to return to Leeds in the future. Dacourt is on loan at

, with the option to buy him for £4 million. He agreed to a €1.85 million gross deal.

Roma decided to sign Dacourt outright on July 10, 2003, for a revised fee of €5 million. Dacourt agreed to a three-year deal for €4 million each season. Dacourt joined the club from Roma on a two-year deal in compliance with the Bosman rule after losing in the Coppa Italia final against Inter Milan in 2005–06.

In light of all the injuries to

, he was originally recruited as a backup player for Inter Milan, but he became a major part in the league win.

An important fact about Olivier Dacourt is that he injured his left knee against Fiorentina on December 2, 2007, with a ruptured cruciate ligament and damage to two additional ligaments. He was anticipated to miss the remainder of the 2007–08 campaign.

After returning from injury in the 2008–09 season, Dacourt did not play as much and was not in Inter boss,

's plans.

After being signed by

on February 2, 2009, Dacourt joined Fulham on loan until the conclusion of the 2008–09 season.

However, due to the impressive form of Fulham's midfield and Dacourt picking up some injury niggles, he was limited to mostly substitute appearances. Dacourt's move to Fulham was not made permanent in the summer, and he briefly returned to Inter, where his contract expired and he became a free agent.

On September 23, 2009, Dacourt signed a one-year deal with Standard Liège. He was brought in to replace Steven Defour, who has a foot injury and will be out for three months.

Defour was Axel Witsel's center midfield partner. Standard Liège announced the conclusion of his contract on February 8, 2010.

A notable fact about Olivier Dacourt is that he competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics for France. After excelling for Leeds United, his first senior debut for France came in a FIFA Confederations Cup match against hosts South Korea in 2001, which France won 0–5.

France went on to win the tournament. He was a part of the French squad that won the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2003 and also played in the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament. Norman Sylla, a fellow player, is his brother-in-law.

In 2011, he attended the Center for Sports Law and Economics for the seventh promotion of the university diploma of general sports club manager (CDES). Zinédine Zidane is also among his classmates. He will receive his diploma 15 in January 2014.

Dacourt will be remembered for his time at Elland Road, but his contribution to the game is far from complete.

Olivier Dacourt Leeds United legacy

For a player whose short Leeds United career was marked by on-and off-the-field turmoil, the fact that Olivier Dacourt is regarded so affectionately by the Elland Road fans is evidence to what he accomplished in only 82 games.

Leeds fans were already wary in June 2000, when a club record fee of £7.2 million was paid for a Lens player who had failed to make an impression during a brief spell at Everton a few years before, especially since Dacourt was the first Frenchman of any significance to arrive at Leeds since a certain Monsieur Cantona.

Putting aside the fact that Dacourt got sent off on his debut in a Champions League qualifier, and that he left Leeds in a shambles owing to the same kind of dysfunctional player/manager breakdown that famously led Eric Cantona to Old Trafford, the two Frenchmen couldn't have been more unlike.

Concerns that Dacourt would sour the already bad environment in the Elland Road dressing room with another selfish show of Gallic flair were quickly dispelled as Dacourt became a critical lynchpin in a young team that benefited from his selfless, dogged strength in the engine room.

While the team's homegrown component and the goal-scoring exploits of formidable frontman Mark Viduka dominated the headlines during the epic Champions League campaign, Dacourt quietly went about his business with a step up in quality and experience, and in the kind of role that only true scholars of the game would fully appreciate.

Dacourt did came with a disciplinary problem that hampered his stint at Goodison Park, but his red card in a Champions League qualifier against 1860 Munich at Elland Road in his debut appearance for the club was treated with compassion.

A picky referee threw out three players in a frantic 10 minutes at the conclusion of the game, with Dacourt earning two yellows and Eirik Bakke also receiving a red card for Leeds.

An injury-time Munich goal set up an unpleasant second leg, which a United line-up devastated by injuries and suspensions survived by the skin of their teeth. How different might

's history have been if Dacourt's red card had been more costly?

Nonetheless, the moniker "Olly" was resonating across Elland Road every week within three months of that inauspicious start, with the type of echoing vitality that serves as a true remembrance of spectacular European evenings.

On a memorable day that began with new signing Rio Ferdinand being unveiled to the stadium before Kick-Off, the home crowd took to the tough-tackling Frenchmen, boosted by a sweeping free-kick that upset

at home in November 2000.

Despite the fact that this was a period of change and upheaval at Leeds United, Dacourt's arrival seemed like a watershed event.

Leeds had qualified for the Champions League with a home-grown core and some shrewd acquisition of young, English players, but Dacourt signified a step forward for the club. It was a strange new world, and Dacourt adapted fast, indicating right once that he was a cut above the rest.

While Dacourt was brought in to help cover for David Batty's long-term injured layoff, his versatility was just as important in providing a stable rock in midfield.

When the talismanic Batty returned to fitness for the second half of the 2000/01 Champions League season, Dacourt adapted his style to suit him, and the two formed a formidable alliance that was crucial in controlling O'Leary's effervescent side's carefree attitude.

Dacourt was an all-action ball-winner who pushed the referee's patience to the limit, always prowling the middle third and seeing how much he could get away with. But this is underplaying his creative worth, which is a blend of accurate long and short passes, astute ball handling, and iron control.

It produced a magnificent combination with Batty that few teams in England or Europe could handle, and from which the Leeds team's more aesthetic and decisive qualities benefited greatly.

Many Leeds supporters see Dacourt as a modern-day great after one night in Rome, when he nearly single-handedly conquered the midfield at the Olympic Stadium during the epoch-defining 1-0 triumph against Lazio.

Dacourt was soiled, fatigued, and elated as he established the bar for daring and bravery on the world's grandest stage. That night, Batty was absent, but the two united in a similar display two months later, when Leeds thrashed

4-1 in their own backyard.

Dacourt's price had skyrocketed, and Leeds had to fight off reputed £15 million approaches from the Serie A heavyweights with whom they had just dined at the top table in the summer of 2001.

Dacourt remained, but the 2001/02 season, which seemed to be set up for Leeds to dominate the world, faded out in messy chaos, leading to O'Leary's dismissal.

We now know that new manager Terry Venables was confronted with a slew of issues that required more than 'experience' and charm to solve.

El Tel's self-destruction was completed when the club decided to make a private feud with fan favorite Dacourt public, just as rumors of a loan to AS Roma started to surface.

It finished with Venables volunteering to personally take Dacourt to Rome, a remark that is still used by Leeds supporters to justify wishful thinking when it comes to squad upkeep.

After a six-month loan, Dacourt was finally sold to Roma in July 2003 for a pitiful £3.5 million, which summed up Leeds' abrupt and precarious financial situation: in two years, they went from possibly tripling their original cost paid to half it. In an unseemly rush of unfinished business, Leeds United mismanaged and under-sold a key asset.

The search for the 'perfect midfielder' continues today, and Dacourt remains the gold standard for greatness that, once again, was all-too-brief and gone-too-quickly, but was enticing, compelling, and exquisite despite its nagging shortness.

The French midfielder, who also represented his nation with Lilian Thuram,

, and Nicolas Anelka, appeared in over 100 Premier League games in five seasons, scoring five goals.

Despite the fact that his Leeds career was tainted by scandal – he was loaned out in disgrace after a spat with then-manager Terry Venables – he is still warmly regarded by the Yorkshire club's supporters, with many claiming he is one of the finest midfielders the club has ever had.

Olivier Dacourt social media

Regarding

Olivier Dacourt social media

, it should be mentioned that he has an Instagram page (

) with more than 57k followers. In the page we can see various pictures of him with the fans and his family.

Olivier Dacourt body measurements

Speaking about

Olivier Dacourt body measurements

, it should be mentioned that the former star is 175cm and 73kg.

Olivier Dacourt net worth and salary

In the years 2021-2022, his net worth increased dramatically. So, at the age of 47, how much is Olivier Dacourt worth? Olivier Dacourt makes the most of his money as a successful soccer pundit as of now.

Olivier Dacourt's net worth

, money, salary, income, and assets have all been calculated. According to Wikipedia, Forbes, IMDb, and other online sources Olivier Dacourt's net worth is $4-5 million.

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