Valentin Rosier EXCLUSIVE: Adapting to LaLiga, playing against Real Madrid and Barcelona

Born in Montauban, France, Rosier was six years old when he joined FC Albiassain in 2002; since then, he’s bounced around from Montauban FCTG, Toulouse, and Terrasses du Tarn before eventually launching his professional career with Rodez in the fourth division.

He would make 126 appearances for the Eagles before deciding to return to France and join OGC Nice on loan, before starting a new chapter in Spain and joining newly promoted Leganés on a free transfer in 2024.

The Frenchman emerged as an instrumental figure in defense, proving versatile across the backline and chipping in with blistering runs up and down the flank and leading his team for interceptions and tackles across his 32 LaLiga appearances, but he was unable to prevent the Pepineros from going back down.

“When I joined Leganés, I thought I might have to adapt to tiki-taka, but my experience wasn’t like this – you have teams that will play with long balls and others that will play with a little bit of tiki-taka, but most of them didn’t play like Real Madrid or Barcelona,” stated Rosier in an exclusive Pulse interview.

“Adapting in LaLiga wasn’t difficult because we had a good team with a lot of quality, of course, I didn’t know my teammates, so I had to understand and they had to understand me. It wasn’t easy, of course, but it also wasn’t difficult.”

Despite racking up interest from Fulham and Eintracht Frankfurt, Rosier elected to stay put in Spain and join Osasuna on a three-year deal. Osasuna finished ninth in 2024/25, their sixth consecutive season in the top division.

They missed out on European football on the final day despite having the same point tally (52) and goal differential (-4) as Rayo Vallecano, who qualified for Europe. Since then, they’ve replaced manager Vicente Moreno with Alessio Lisci, whilst they’ve also replaced their starting right back Jesús Areso with Rosier following the former’s €12 million move to Athletic Club.

Since making the move to the Basque side, Rosier has played in all six of Osasuna’s preseason friendlies, starting in four and playing as a right back and a right-sided centre back.

However, when Osasuna kicked off the 2025/26 season on Tuesday, they did so with Rosier operating as a right-sided wingback against Real Madrid, who were playing in just their second match since their 4-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup semifinal.

He impressed on his Osasuna debut and admirably dealt with Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior, racking up four clearances, three interceptions and two tackles, but he was unable to prevent them from losing 1-0 to the 15-time kings of Europe.

“I think my best position depends on the team,” Rosier revealed to Pulse. “When I was in Beşiktaş, I played with Rachid Ghezzal. With him, I prefer to play with four in defense, because I want to pass to him or run behind. I like to combine with my winger, but if I have someone who prefers to only play inside, then it’s better to play with three center backs so I can play more like a wing-back.

"It depends on my teammate,  but I just want to play football, whether it’s with two or three center backs, I enjoy playing and doing what I know. It doesn’t matter for me, but if I have a good relationship with my winger, I prefer to play forward.”