The 10 France players to explode the last six months

Cameron Smith

• 8 Mar 2022 19:41 GMT
• 4 min read

Rennes centre-back Warmed Omari is the most-improved French player over the past six months, according to SciSports.

Using in-game data to calculate the performance of every French player, Omari has developed the most rapidly over the past six months, and has improved at a rapid rate of knots.

Omari only made his Rennes first-team debut earlier this season, but has been a consistent performer for the side, hence his inclusion at the top of this list.

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Rennes currently have the third best defensive record in Ligue 1, with Omari playing his part in the middle of the backline. He's made 20 league starts for the club, and at just 21 years old, he has a long future ahead of him.

His manager Bruno Genesio has also been full of praise for the defender, admitting to have been pleasantly surprised by his level of performance. "From the start of the season, he’s been surprising. He proves himself in each match, he trains well, he’s serious and he’s got quality" Genesio said after his side's loss to Paris Saint-Germain.

Coming in second on the list is Thierno Balde, who is currently on loan at Le Havre from PSG. The France U20 international has played 23 times in Ligue 2 this campaign.

Nantes' Quentin Merlin is third, with the left-back scoring once and assisting once in just 12 league starts.

Next up is a duo from Lyon in Malo Gusto and Castello Lukeba. Despite being just 18 years old, Gusto has already made 24 first-team appearances this campaign, racking up one assist in Ligue 1, and one in the Europa League. He has mostly played as a right-back. 19-year-old Lukeba has also notched up an impressive appearance count this year, with 16 games played at centre-back. He has scored once in the league.

Ousmane Camara is sixth, with the Paris FC midfielder improving thanks to 25 appearances in Ligue 2. Montpellier's Maxime Esteve comes next having played 14 times in Ligue 1 this year at centre-back, while Georginio Rutter is eighth.

The Hoffenheim forward is perhaps the most high-profile name on the list with six goals and one assist in the Bundesliga this season, with just nine league starts to his name.

Teddy Alloh, on loan at Eupen from PSG, and Amiens' Mattheo Xantippe round off the top 10.

How is the SciSkill ranking calculated?

Over the course of a season, there are players who will enjoy increasingly poor performances and increasingly positive performances.

FootballTransfers, in partnership with SciSports, has determined 10 English players over the last six months whose performances have improved to a higher degree than anyone else.

SciSports explains how our development ratings are gathered:

"Among others, a positive development could be boosted by more playing time, playing time on a higher level or better performances on the pitch.

"A negative development could be due to the player being active on a lower level than he used to play, bad performances or the fact that he does not play that often as he used to do.

"A SciSkill Development of 0.0 could indicate that a player is performing exactly like our algorithm expects him to do. Another reason could be inactivity (e.g. a long-term injury or suspension)."

It should be noted that vast improvement does not necessarily mean that a player was underperforming previously.