Marcel Tisserand

AS Monaco

Born in Meaux, France, Tisserand began his career at NF Clairefontaine before leaving for Monaco when he was thirteen.

In June 2013, he signed his first professional contract with Monaco, having spent four years at the reserve side. Following this, he was called up by the first team for the pre-season tour with Monaco by manager Claudio Ranieri. Ranieri was impressed with his ability in training and took him to the pre-season with the club. Tisserand made his professional debut at 10 August 2013 against Bordeaux in the first Ligue 1 game for AS Monaco in the 2013–14 season. On 5 October 2013, he made his first Monaco start, playing in the left–back position, in a 2–1 win over Saint-Étienne. On 19 December 2013, he signed a contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2018. However, he struggled in the first team, being relegated to the substitutes bench due to competition from Layvin Kurzawa and making six appearances in the 2013–14 season.

After ending his two–year loan spell at Toulouse, Tisserand returned to Monaco and expressed desire to play in the Monaco’s first team in the 2016–17 season. In the 2016–17 season, he only made one appearance for the club, in a 1–0 win over Nantes on 20 August 2016.

Loan to RC Lens

After being told by the club’s management that he was allowed to leave the club in the winter transfer window, Tisserand joined Ligue 2 side Lens on loan for the rest of the season on 20 January 2014. Upon joining Lens, he expressed hope the move would help him earn a first-team chance at Monaco next season.

Tisserand made his Lens debut on 27 January 2014, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 win over Auxerre. On 8 March 2014, he scored his first professional goal in a 1–0 win over Metz. From that moment on, he became a first-team regular under Manager Antoine Kombouaré for the rest of the season going on to help the club achieve promotion to Ligue 2 (which was later invalidated). Despite setbacks from injury and suspension, Tisserand made a total of twelve appearances for the club, all of which were starts. At the end of the 2013–14 season, the club was keen on signing him on loan for a second time. However, they did not succeed in re-signing him citing financial problems.

Loan to Toulouse

Expecting to be loaned out again, Tisserand was loaned once again to fellow Ligue 1 side Toulouse in July 2014.

At the start of the season, he suffered an injury that ruled him out for several matches. In September, he returned to first-team training and made his Toulouse debut on 23 September 2014, starting in a 3–0 win over Rennes. At end of 2014, he suffered a further injury setback and at one point, was ineligible to play against his parent club, Monaco, despite request from Toulouse. After returning to the first team, Tisserand provided an assist for Aleksandar Pešić to score the only goal in 1–0 win against Reims on 31 January 2015. In a 3–2 loss against Metz on 4 April 2015, he was sent off for a second bookable offence and served one-match suspension as a result. Despite suffering setbacks towards the end of the season, Tisserand went on to make 22 appearances in all competitions in the 2014–15 season.

In the 2015–16 season, Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim stated he was keen on using Tisserand in the first team this season, due to his good performance in the previous season. On 21 July 2015, however, Tisserand was loaned out to Toulouse again for the season. He made his season debut in the opening game of the season, playing as a right–back in a 2–1 win over Saint-Étienne. He was sent off for a second bookable offence in the second half of a 3–0 win over Troyes on 2 December 2015, and was suspended for two matches. On 24 January 2016, Tisserand started against his parent club, Monaco, where he played for 67 minutes, in a 4–0 loss. He scored his first Toulouse goal on 23 April 2016, in a 3–2 loss against Lyon. Having become a first team regular in his second season at the club, Tisserand went on to make 36 appearances scoring once in all competitions.

Reflecting on his time at Toulouse, Tisserand credited Manager Pascal Dupraz for helping the side avoid relegation, where they finished 17th place.

Ingolstadt

On 31 August 2016, Tisserand signed a four-year contract with Bundesliga side Ingolstadt. The transfer fee paid to Monaco was reported as €5.5 million.

Tisserand made his Ingolstadt debut on 10 September 2016, making his first start, in a 2–0 loss against Hertha BSC. Since then, he became a first team regular at Ingolstadt until he left for his international commitment. After the end of the tournament, he returned to the first team on 11 February 2017, in a 2–0 loss against Bayern Munich.

International career

While born in France to a French father and a Congolese mother, Tisserand represented Congo DR U19 in 2012 and was the captain of Congo DR U20 in the 2013 Toulon Tournament.

In March 2016, he was called up to the provisional squad of the senior Congo national team] before being dropped due to administrative issues. Tisserand subsequently stated that he desired to play for the DR Congo. The following month, he debuted for the DR Congo in a friendly 1–1 tie with Romania in May 2016.

In January 2017, Tisserand was called up to the squad for the Africa Cup of Nations. He played on matchday 1 of the group stage, in a 1–0 win over Morocco on 16 April 2017. He went on to make five appearance in the tournament, as DR Congo were eliminated in the quarter–finals by Ghana.

Personal life

Tisserand grew up in Meaux, France, and supported Paris Saint-Germain. He has an older brother, Patrick, who is also his agent, as well as two brothers, who are engineers, and a sister, who is an accountant.

In addition to speaking French, Tisserand also speaks Lingala and understands Kongo language, something he learns from his grandmother.