Étienne René Capoue (born 11 July 1988) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He began his professional career at

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, making 196 total appearances and scoring 13 goals, while making the UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year for 2011–12. From 2013 to 2020 he played in England's

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

and

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, reaching the

2019 FA Cup Final The 2019 FA Cup final was an association football match between Manchester City and Watford on 18 May 2019 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, and the 138th FA Cup final. It was Manchester City's eleventh appearance at the FA Cup final and W ...

with the latter. He then joined Villarreal, winning the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

in his first season, and was

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. Capoue was a French youth international, having earned caps at under-18, under-19, and under-21 level, serving as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

for a portion of his stint with the latter team. He earned seven

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

caps from 2012 to 2013, scoring once.

Club career

Early career

Capoue was born in the commune of

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; ; ) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the urban area. Geography T ...

Deux-Sèvres Deux-Sèvres (, Poitevin-Saintongese: ''Deùs Saevres'') is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a ...

, and began his career playing for hometown club

Chamois Niortais Chamois Niortais Football Club (; often referred to as ''Les Chamois'', Chamois Niortais, or simply Niort) are a French association football club based in the commune of Niort, in the Deux-Sèvres department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwest ...

. In 2002, he departed the club and joined FC Chauray, a local club in

Poitou-Charentes Poitou-Charentes (; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ) was an administrative region on the southwest coast of France. It comprised four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. It included the historical provinces of Angoumo ...

. Capoue stayed at the club for two years before joining

Angers SCO Angers Sporting Club de l'Ouest, commonly referred to as Angers SCO (), is a French professional football club based in Angers in Pays de la Loire in western France. The club was founded in 1919 and plays in Ligue 1, the first division of Foot ...

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; but can also mean 'Lower Loire') is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, located on the country's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital an ...

. While playing in a youth league match against

, Capoue drew the attention of the club's scouts who offered the player a one-week trial. Prior to agreeing to the internship, he was also approached by

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

, and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. Capoue chose Toulouse because of the club's training facilities and the good weather.

Toulouse

Capoue began his club career with Toulouse in 2006 playing on the club's under-18 team. During the early portion of the 2007–08 season, he played on the club's

Championnat de France Amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 ...

team in the fourth division making eight appearances. Midway through the season, Capoue was called up to the senior team by manager Alain Casanova. On 8 December 2007, he made his professional debut appearing as a substitute in a 1–0 victory over Lille. The following week, Capoue made his first professional start against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

at the

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

. Toulouse won the match 2–1 with Capoue playing 71 minutes. On 7 February 2008, Capoue, along with teammate

Cheikh M'Bengue Cheikh Sidy Bouya M'Bengue (born 23 July 1988) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a left-back. He has played professional club football for Toulouse FC, Toulouse and Stade Rennais F.C., Rennes. Born in France, he repr ...

, signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal until 2011. For the 2008–09 season, Casanova paired the young defensive midfielder with former youth teammate

Moussa Sissoko Moussa Sissoko (born 16 August 1989) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captain (association football), captains club Watford F.C., Watford. He is a Midfielder#Box-to-box midfielder, bo ...

and new signing

Étienne Didot Étienne Didot (born 24 July 1983) is a French former professional footballer who primarily played as a centre midfielder. Didot made over 400 appearances in Ligue 1 playing for Stade Rennais F.C., Toulouse FC, and En Avant de Guingamp. Club c ...

, who arrived from

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. The trio performed well in the midfield with Capoue flourishing making 36 total appearances. On 18 October 2008, Capoue scored his first professional goal against Bordeaux in a 2–1 defeat. During the season, he also received 14

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative co ...

s in all competitions, second to only Siaka Tiéné of

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

in the league. For his efforts, he was nominated for the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award and awarded a contract extension until 2013 by his club. During the 2009–10 season, Capoue appeared regularly in the first team and drew interest from Italian club

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

and

clubs

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. On 26 November 2009, Toulouse responded to the interest by reaching an agreement with Capoue on a one-year contract extension until 2014. Capoue appeared in 41 total matches for the season collecting 17 total yellow cards, 13 of which came in Ligue 1, leading all players.

Tottenham Hotspur

In July 2013, Toulouse accepted a reported £9.5 million bid from

side

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

. However, personal terms were not agreed and the deal was not finalised. On 15 August 2013, he completed an €11m (£9.3m) transfer to

. The day before the announcement, Tottenham and France's first choice goalkeeper,

Hugo Lloris Hugo Hadrien Dominique Lloris (born 26 December 1986) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Lloris began his career wi ...

told French newspaper ''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...

'' that joining Tottenham would be a big step in Capoue's career, and stated his delight to see him join Tottenham. Capoue made his debut for Spurs on 18 August, replacing Mousa Dembélé in a 1–0 win away to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, which is the home ground of Premier League club Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted interna ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 29 January, in a 5–1 home loss to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, after coming on at half time for Dembélé. Capoue began his second season partnering Nabil Bentaleb in midfield, but his performance dropped while the Algerian was injured, and

Ryan Mason Ryan Glen Mason (born 13 June 1991) is an English professional Association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. A midfielder, Mason progressed through the youth ranks ...

made a breakthrough. His only other goal for Spurs was on 14 January 2015, in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

third round replay at home to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, equalising just before half time in a 4–2 win after Spurs had been trailing 2–0 with nine minutes on the clock. After that month, he took no further part in the team for the rest of the season. A loan move to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

fell through, while he turned down a deal to move to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

on the same basis. Capoue said in September 2015 that manager

Mauricio Pochettino Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero (born 2 March 1972), also known mononymously by his nickname Poch, is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the United States men's national team. Pochettin ...

never spoke to him to explain why he was dropped from the team.

Watford

On 6 July 2015, Capoue joined newly promoted

for a club-record transfer fee, reported to be around £6.3 million, on a four-year contract. Etienne Capoue

He began his second season at Watford with four goals in his first six games, including the opening goal against Manchester United in a 3–1 win at Vicarage Road and another in a 4–2 comeback win against West Ham United. In May 2019, Capoue was named as Watford's Player of the Year for the 2018–19 season.

Villarreal

On 30 December 2020, Capoue signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Spanish club

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

for an undisclosed fee, starting on 4 January 2021. Capoue was named the man of the match in Villarreal's victory over

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in the 2021 UEFA Europa League Final on 26 May 2021. The win delivered Villarreal its first major trophy in club history.

International career

Capoue was eligible to play for

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

, due to his father being from there. Capoue has been active with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on the youth level. He has received caps with the under-18 and under-19 teams. Capoue made his youth international debut with the under-18 team on 14 March 2006 in a 2–1 victory over

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He finished the under-18 campaign with four appearances. He made his debut with the under-19 team at the 2006 edition of the Sendaï Cup in Japan in the opening match against the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...

national team. In the team's next group stage match against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, Capoue scored his first youth international goal in a 3–1 victory. On 23 January 2007, he scored his second under-17 goal in a 2–0 win against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. During

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

2007 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA U-19 Championship 2007 Final Tournament was held in Austria with matches played from 16–27 July 2007. Players born after 1 January 1988 were eligible to participate in this competition. The draw was made on 13 June 2007. The venues wer ...

, Capoue scored his only goal in a 3–1 positive result against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in the Elite Round. At the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, Capoue missed the first two group stage matches, but appeared in the team final one against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the team's semi-final defeat on penalties to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. On 15 August 2012, Capoue made his debut for the French senior team in a friendly match against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

Didier Deschamps Didier Claude Deschamps (; born 15 October 1968) is a French professional football manager and former player who has been managing the France national team since 2012. He played as a defensive midfielder for several clubs, in France, Italy, Engl ...

's first game as manager. He replaced

Rio Mavuba Rio Antonio Zoba Mavuba (born 8 March 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his professional career with Bordeaux and Lille, winning the 2011 national championship with the latter. A Fr ...

at half time in a goalless draw. On 11 September, he scored his first goal for France in a 3–1 World Cup qualifier win over

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

Personal life

Capoue's older brother, Aurélien, played for clubs including

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, and was a senior international for

Career statistics

Club

International

:''France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Capoue goal.''

Honours

Watford *

runner-up: 2018–19 Villarreal *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Individual * UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2011–12 *

Watford Player of the Season Watford Football Club are an English football club, from Watford, Hertfordshire. Founded in 1881 as Watford Rovers, the club has competed in the Football League since 1920 and since the 2015–16 season have competed in the Premier League. F ...

: 2018–19 * UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season:

References

External links

Profile
at the Villarreal CF website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Capoue, Etienne 1988 births Living people Footballers from Niort French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Toulouse FC players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Watford F.C. players Villarreal CF players Ligue 1 players Premier League players English Football League players La Liga players UEFA Europa League–winning players France men's youth international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers France men's international footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French people of Guadeloupean descent 21st-century French sportsmen