Anthony Mounier (born 27 September 1987) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left winger.
Club career
Lyon Born in Aubenas, France, Mounier began playing football when he was four years old and joined US Véore, a club based in Drôme. He then joined Olympique Lyonnais at age twelve and progressed through the ranks of the club's youth system. While training at the Centre Tola Vologe, Rémy trained alongside the likes of Karim Benzema, Loïc Rémy, and Hatem Ben Arfa. In September 2006, Mounier signed his first professional contract with the club after being offered one.
Mounier was promoted to the Lyon's first team for the beginning of the 2007–08 season, being given the squad number 27. He made his club debut during the pre-season in the 2007 Peace Cup, where he played in all four matches, scoring a goal in Lyon's first group match against Shimizu S-Pulse. Mounier signed a three–year contract with the club prior to the start of the 2007–08 season. He made his league debut on 12 January 2008 in Lyon's 3–2 win over Toulouse coming on as a substitute. This turns out to be his only appearances of the 2007–08 season, as Mounier found himself placed on the substitute bench throughout the first half of the season.
In the summer transfer window of 2008, Mounier wanted to leave the club after a lack of playing time due to his limited first team opportunities, but manager Claude Puel urged him to stay. He made his first appearance of the season, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute, in a 2–0 win against Grenoble Foot. Mounier then made his UEFA Champions League debut, coming on as a late substitute, in a 2–2 draw against ACF Fiorentina on 17 September 2008. Ten days later on 27 September 2008, he provided an assist for Karim Benzema and Fred in a 2–1 win over Nancy. In the UEFA Champions League Group stage on 21 October 2008, Mounier provided an assist for Fred in a 5–3 win over Romanian side Steaua București. He scored his first goal for Lyon on 24 January 2009 in the 2008–09 edition of the Coupe de France nailing a brace in Lyon's 6–0 thrashing of amateur side US Concarneau. In the last 16 of Coupe de France, Mounier scored and provided an assist for Jean Makoun in a 3–2 loss against Lille. He scored his first ever league goal on 22 March 2009 against Sochaux. On 12 May 2009, Mounier scored his second league goal in a 3–0 win against Nantes. However, Mounier found his playing time, mostly coming from the substitute bench. At the end of the 2008–09 season, he went on to make twenty–seven appearances and scoring five times in all competitions.
Mounier made his only appearances for Olympique Lyonnais in the 2009–10 season against AJ Auxerre on 22 August 2009, where he set up the club's second goal of the game, in a 3–0 win.
Nice Mounier joined Nice on the last day of the transfer window for €2.5 million plus a profit equal to 15% on a possible future transfer. Upon joining the club, he said his departure from Olympique Lyonnais was to get first team football.
On 13 September 2009, Mounier made his debut for the club in a 2–0 loss against Auxerre. His performance later earned him Aiglon of the Month. Since making his debut for OGC Nice, he alternated between a starting and a substitute role before starting a place in the first team. On 24 October 2009, he played against Lyon and assisted teammate David Hellebuyck in a 4–1 win. Two weeks later on 7 November 2009, Mounier set up the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win against Paris Saint-Germain. His performance throughout December earned him Aiglon of the Month. Two months later on 21 March 2010 against Paris Saint-Germain, he set up the only goal of the game once again, in a 1–0 win. This was followed up by scoring his first goal and set up a goal for Eric Mouloungui in a 2–0 win over Toulouse on 28 March 2010. His performance throughout April earned him Aiglon of the Month. On 8 May 2010, he scored his second goal in a 2–2 draw against Stade Rennais. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Mounier made thirty–three appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
At the start of the 2010–11 season, Mounier continued to regain his first team place for the side, playing in the left–wing position. He continued to assist four times in the first two months of the season. Mounier scored his first of the season with an assist from Danijel Ljuboja where he places the edge of the area left without a resumption of control beating Jérémie Janot in a 2–1 win over Saint-Étienne on 17 October 2010. His performance throughout October and December earned him Aiglon of the Month on two occasions. In the Coupe de France last 16, he scored the only goal in the game with a 1–0 win over JA Drancy on 2 February 2011. Mounier then scored his third goal of the season, in a 2–0 win against Saint-Étienne on 26 February 2011. Following this, his performance throughout February earned him Aiglon of the Month. On 16 April 2011, Mounier scored his third goal and set up a goal for Mouloungui in a 3–2 win over AS Monaco. After missing four matches due to a thigh injury, he returned to the starting line–up, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 3–0 loss against AS Nancy on 15 May 2011. Having assisted eleven times throughout the 2010–11 season, Mounier scored four times in thirty–nine appearances in all competitions.
At the start of the 2011–12 season, Mounier scored his first goal of the season in a 3–1 loss against his former club, Olympique Lyon in the opening game of the season. On 20 August 2011, he scored in a 1–1 draw against Toulouse and scored again by taking the fly, thirty yards from goal, the ball poorly returned by the defence and past the goalkeeper in the third round of Coupe de la Ligue with 2–1 win on 31 August 2011. His performance throughout August earned him Aiglon of the Month. After missing one match due to ankle injury, Mounier returned to the starting line–up, in a 1–0 loss against AS Nancy on 22 October 2011. After serving a one match suspension, he returned to the starting line–up, in a 1–0 loss against FC Lorient on 27 November 2012. After 12 matches without a goal, Mounier scored a brace in a 2–0 win over Valenciennes on 17 December 2011. In the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France against Dijon on 11 January 2012, he scored the club's first goal of the game and it led to penalty shootout following a 3–3 draw, resulting OGC Nice 5–3 in the shootout to advance to the next round. Mounier then scored again in the semi-finals in a 2–1 loss against Marseille, eliminating the club from the cup competition. On 25 February 2012, he scored in a 1–0 win over Caen. It was not until on 31 March 2012 when Mounier scored a brace again of the season in a 3–2 win over Saint-Étienne. This was followed up by scoring in a 2–0 win over FC Lorient. However, during the match against Lorient, he suffered a pain on his left quadriceps that saw him sidelined for the rest of the 2011–12 season. Shortly after, Mounier was named Aiglon of the Month following his performance throughout March. Throughout the 2011– 12 season, Mounier continued to regain his first team place for the side, playing in the left–wing position. At the end of the 2011–12 season, he made thirty–five appearances and scoring eleven times in all competitions.
Montpellier
On 29 June 2012, Mounier joined Montpellier for a reported €3.25 million and signed four-year contract.
However, his Montpellier's debut was delayed after suffering a thigh injury that kept him out for the first two league matches of the 2012–13 season. But it was not until on 26 August 2012 when he made his Montpellier's debut, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Marseille. Mounier made his first start in a follow–up match against Sochaux, in a 3–1 win. However, Mounier suffered an injury that kept him out for two matches. It was not until 20 October 2012 when he returned to the first team, coming on as Montpellier lost 2–1 against Stade Rennais. Since returning to the first team, Mounier alternated between a starting and a substitute role throughout the 2012–13 season. It was not until 15 December 2012 when he scored his first Montpellier goal, in a 4–0 win against SC Bastia. This was followed up by setting up two goals against Lille and Lorient. His second goal of the season came on 27 April 2013, in a 2–1 loss against AC Ajaccio. Despite missing two more matches later in the 2012–13 season, Mounier made thirty–six appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
At the start of the 2013–14 season, Mounier alternated between a starting and a substitute role in the first four league matches of the season before missing one match, due to suspension. It was not until 21 September 2013 when he made his return to the starting line–up from suspension, in a 2–2 draw against Évian. Two weeks later on 6 October 2013 against his former club, Lyon, Mounier scored his first goal of the season, in a 5–1 win. However, he suffered a thigh injury while training and missed two matches as a result. It was not until 3 November 2013 when Mounier returned to the first team, coming on as an 83rd-minute substitute, in a 1–1 draw against FC Nantes. Since returning to the first team from injury, he continued to spend the next five months, alternating between a starting and a substitute role. Along the way, Mounier scored his second goal of the season, in a 2–0 win against Sochaux on 18 January 2014. This was followed up by setting up three goals in the next three matches between 25 January 2014 and 8 February 2014. Two weeks later on 22 February 2014, he scored his third goal of the season, in a 2–0 win against Ajaccio. This lasted until late April when Mounier suffered a thigh injury that kept him out for two matches. But he did return from injury, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute, in a 2–0 loss against SC Bastia on 10 May 2014.
At the start of the 2014–15 season, Mounier started the season well when he scored his first goal of the season, as well as, setting up the club's second goal of the game, in a 2–0 win against Marseille on 17 August 2014. His performance throughout August earned him Montpellier's Player of the Month. Since the start of the 2014–15 season, Mounier continued to be a first team regular for the side, playing in the left midfield position. He then scored four more goals by the end of the year. His performance throughout December earned him the club's Player of the Month. Mounier then set up two consecutive goals in two matches between 9 January 2015 and 17 January 2015 against Marseille and FC Metz before scoring his fifth goal of the season, in a 4–0 win against Nantes. He then scored three more times later in the 2014–15 season, including scoring two consecutive goals in two matches against RC Lens and Paris Saint-Germain. Despite missing two matches during the 2014–15 season, he made thirty–eight appearances and scoring nine times in all competitions. Following this, Mounier finished second behind Vitorino Hilton for the club's Player of the Year.
Ahead of the 2015–16 season, Montpellier HSC wanted to keep Mounier by opening him a new contract with the club. It came after when he was linked a move away from Montpellier HSC. Mounier made three appearances for Montpellier HSC before leaving the club.
Bologna
On 29 August 2015, Italian club Bologna signed the Frenchman from Montpellier on a three-year deal reported to be worth around €1.5 million. Upon joining the club, he was given the number 26 shirt.