Elías Alexander Legendre Quiñónez (born 22 April 2008) is an Ecuadorian

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 currently plays as a winger for French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Stade Rennais Stade Rennais Football Club (SRFC, ), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais () or simply Rennes,''Rennais'' and ''Stade Rennes'', used by some English-speaking media outlets and journalists, are not grammatically correct names for the club. is ...

Early life

Legendre was born in the La Concordia Canton of Ecuador to a French father and Ecuadorian mother, and moved to France as a child in 2015.

Club career

On his arrival in France, Legendre joined local side Cercle Paul Bert Bréquigny, where he spent three years before a move to CO.Pacé. In 2021 he joined the academy of

, and the following year he signed a youth contract with the club in June 2022. In the 2023–24 season, he scored fifty goals at youth level, and at under-16 level he finished as top scorer at the 2024 edition of the Montaigu Tournament.

International career

Having represented France at under-16 level already, Legendre stated in an interview with ''Kily Fútbol'' that he was happy to represent both France and Ecuador at international level, and that Ecuador had not previously contacted him about the possibility. In the same interview, he revealed that he had been invited to an Ecuadorian under-17 microcycle in August 2024. In December 2024, he told journalist César Mosquera that he wished to represent Ecuador at the

2025 South American U-17 Championship The 2025 South American U-17 Championship was the 20th edition of the South American U-17 Championship (, ), the biennial international youth football championship organised by CONMEBOL for the men's under-17 national teams of South America. It wa ...

, and that the

Ecuadorian Football Federation The Ecuadorian Football Federation ( or ) is the governing body of football in Ecuador. Its headquarters are in Quito, and it organizes the country's various football competitions and oversees the Ecuador national team. History Numerous amate ...

had sent documentation to his club, Stade Rennais, for this to happen. He played twice for France's under-17 side in February 2025, scoring twice, before receiving a call up to the Ecuador under-17 for the South American U-17 Championship. In Ecuador's opening game 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 ...

, Legendre scored after just thirty-one seconds as Ecuador went on to win 4–0. In Ecuador's determining match against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, Legendre scored his penalty as Ecuador lost 5–4 in the shoot-out.

Style of play

Legendre has been described as a "versatile forward", capable of playing as a centre-forward and a winger, by online newspaper '' elDiario.es'' journalist Jaime Ugalde, who also noted his speed, strength and technical ability. Having praised his goalscoring ability, Ugalde tipped him to be a successor to

Enner Valencia Enner Remberto Valencia Lastra (born 4 November 1989) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Internacional and captains the Ecuador national team. Valencia previously played f ...

, Ecuador's all-time leading scorer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Legendre, Elias 2008 births Living people People from Santo Domingo de Los Tsáchilas Province Ecuadorian men's footballers Ecuador men's youth international footballers French men's footballers France men's youth international footballers Men's association football wingers Stade Rennais FC players Ecuadorian people of French descent French people of Ecuadorian descent Sportspeople of Ecuadorian descent 21st-century Ecuadorian sportsmen 21st-century French sportsmen