OM wanted him when he was 13
Joris Chotard nearly never ended up in Montpellier at all. His former coach, Kévin Corbière, put it plainly at the France Bleu Hérault microphone;
“There was Sochaux who had proposed a contract when he was 13, and OM also got closer, but his choice went to Montpellier”
Kévin Corbière
His US Pontet coach was just as glowing about the kid he had on his hands; “Joris had something. He is the best player of his generation in the department. Penalties were 100% successful with us, free kicks were 80%. I was impressed!”.
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This profile first ran in December 2019, so what follows is what we saw then, written the way we filed it. On the scouting sheet at the time: born Sep 24, 2001, France, 179cm, right-footed, defensive midfield, and freshly signed to his first professional contract at HSC Montpellier.
Who is Joris Chotard?
Chotard was already rated one of Montpellier’s great prospects. He played his first Ligue 1 minutes on the opening day against Rennes, 86 minutes, and clearly had the trust of the club. Montpellier handed him that first professional deal on his 18th birthday. Taking the number 13, he told the official site; “At the beginning of the season, I had no idea of signing my first professional contract in my club. It’s a nice surprise, the fruit of my work but also a nice brand of confidence of the club and the coach. I’m really happy about it.” I remember watching that Rennes cameo and thinking the composure did not match the age.
What was Joris Chotard’s style of play?
Chotard was a distinctive prospect, determined on and off the pitch, with the full profile of a defensive midfielder. High work rate, sharp anticipation, decent strength and a real feel for managing the tempo. His first touch and his tackling let him keep the ball on his feet under pressure. He sat as a pillar in the middle, strong and aware of everything around him. It was a genuine pleasure to watch him play, and we said back then that the top European clubs and international call ups would come sooner than later.
What were Joris Chotard’s strengths?
Chotard was very good at setting up play. He used a quick first few yards to get ahead of an opponent, all off a natural fitness base. Not the flashiest, but technically gifted, and his first touch was the trait he was known for, because he rarely gave the ball away. Going forward he could break lines with a decisive pass; defensively his tackling and man-marking let him find the right position to cover and block. The work rate was high, and you would often see him both leading the attack and marshalling the defensive line. There was room to grow, and he was on the right path.
What were his weaknesses?
Beyond a lack of flair and weak long throws, there was not much missing for the role. The Frenchman had the traits a defensive midfielder needs; what he lacked belonged to an attacker, mainly dribbling and finishing. It is a bit unfair to grade a defensive midfielder against an attacker’s checklist. When I played, the deep midfielders who lasted were the ones who did the boring things perfectly and left the tricks to others, and Chotard already fit that mould. At 18 he had plenty of time to sharpen the edges, and even then the ball retention was the thing you noticed most.
What the numbers said then
At the time of writing, Chotard had appeared in 14 of a possible 20 matches, starting nearly all of them. At 18 he was leaving his mark on the HSC Montpellier line-up. We had seen nothing of him with the seniors the season before, but the club played it diligently: they let him grow in a lower-pressure setting with the U19s and B team, then handed him a stage. He was being called up by France U19 and looked a mature presence, playing like a 22-year-old at 18. Montpellier had quietly become a club that trusts its academy, and Chotard was the proof: he had come up cleanly through their ranks, U19s to U21s to the first team, without ever needing to change clubs. That is rare, and it usually says something about temperament as much as talent. Watching him control a midfield with no visible nerves at that age, it was easy to see why he had been fast-tracked, and why the coaching staff kept picking him.
Our view and what we predicted
We called him an 18-year-old mastermind and, honestly, we oversold it. We had him valued at 0.5m in December 2019 on the transfermarkt platform, forecast jumps toward 5 to 10m on rising appearances, and predicted a very good season followed by a move to LOSC Lille, with Schalke, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Leicester and even Arsenal floated as destinations. That was too much hype for a teenage number 6, and the glamour transfer never came. Owning a wrong call is part of this job. What was right was the read on the player.
Where is he now
Chotard did not chase the move. He stayed, became a Ligue 1 regular through his early twenties, and grew his creative return from zero assists as a teenager to a run of seasons chipping in from deep, six in 2022/23 alone. That is the tell for a holding midfielder maturing: the numbers do not scream, but the influence widens season on season. He kept close to a full campaign of appearances for years before finally making a domestic step. Here is the record from our data.
| Season | Club | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | Montpellier | 29 | 0 |
| 2021/22 | Montpellier | 36 | 1 |
| 2022/23 | Montpellier | 37 | 0 |
| 2023/24 | Montpellier | 31 | 0 |
| 2024/25 | Montpellier | 26 | 1 |
| 2025/26 | Montpellier | 1 | 0 |
| 2025/26 | Stade Brestois 29 | 33 | 2 |
For his current rating, minutes and fitness picture, see his live Joris Chotard scout report.
Summary
The teenage mastermind talk was over the top, and we will own it. What held up was the scouting read: a mature, low-error holding midfielder on the right path. He built a real Ligue 1 career on exactly those traits, stayed patient while lesser prospects burned out chasing moves, and made his own step when it was ready. That is a good outcome for a player, even if it did not match the fireworks we predicted. Remember the name, just for calmer reasons than we first gave.