Jeremy Menez looks back on his years in Serie A with the clarity of a player who knows both what he achieved and what may have slipped away. Now 39, living in Paris with his family, the former Roma and Milan forward remains close to the Italian game through his work in television and as a Paris Saint-Germain ambassador. His memories, however, still carry the same mixture that marked his career: rare technical imagination, difficult injuries and a temperament he believes prevented him from going further.
Italy remains part of Menez’s football life
Menez has worked with DAZN France for the past two years, covering major Serie A matches after the broadcaster acquired rights to the competition. He also represents PSG as an ambassador, yet Italy continues to occupy a particular place in his footballing story.
He feels Serie A lost some of its allure over time, but believes the league has become more compelling again. In his view, the arrival of younger coaches and the presence of notable players have helped renew its appeal.
- He would most readily see himself in today’s Como or Roma sides, praising both clubs for their clear identities.
- He singled out Como coach Cesc Fabregas as one of the game’s most gifted managers.
- He regards Roma as capable of challenging for the Scudetto this season and described Gian Piero Gasperini as “a genius”.
- He believes Milan, under Amorim, lack creative flair, which he considers a weakness.
- For Menez, the decline of inventive players is not exclusively an Italian issue but a wider trend in football.
Among the current generation, Lamine Yamal and Nico Paz are the two players he most enjoys watching.
Roma, Milan and two goals that endured
His spell at Roma was one of the happiest parts of his playing life. Menez arrived in a dressing room full of established figures and admitted that it was not an easy environment to enter, but he quickly came to regard the club as home and says he retains only positive memories.
Luciano Spalletti played an important role in developing him, although the relationship was demanding. Menez said the coach understood his personality and would occasionally keep him behind for an additional half-hour of work once training had finished.
His finest goal, in his own assessment, came for Milan against Parma: the celebrated backheel finish on a wet surface, where the ball bounced upwards before he improvised. He also places his volleyed finish in the derby against Inter alongside it among the best strikes of his career.
A promising first season disrupted by injury
Menez joined Milan in 2014 after three years at PSG, feeling that he needed a different challenge. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva contacted Adriano Galliani, while Galliani travelled to Ibiza, where Menez was on holiday, to persuade him to make the move.
The first campaign brought 16 goals and four assists. The following season unfolded very differently, largely because of a serious back problem.
- During a hill sprint in training, Menez felt acute pain in his back.
- He had previously undergone surgery for a hernia while at PSG, and the same area had continued to trouble him.
- The pain became severe enough to affect his walking and led to another operation.
- After returning, the discomfort persisted. In August, a doctor advised drug treatment and four months away from home training.
- He was initially limping and did not return until January.
His Milan departure was also shaped by a confrontation with Vincenzo Montella. During a United States training camp, Menez was left on the bench for a friendly against Liverpool. At the next session, he acknowledged that he did not apply himself properly. Montella sent him away from training, Menez responded angrily, and the coach subsequently told Galliani that the player should leave. Menez accepts responsibility, describing himself at the time as hot-headed.
A career shaped by instinct and resistance
Menez does not hide from the limitations of his character. He says he played instinctively, seeking enjoyment with the ball rather than calculating every moment, but that same instinct could make anger difficult to control. He believes he could have accomplished considerably more.
His upbringing in the Paris suburbs formed part of that story. Raised by his mother with little money, he grew up among a group of friends where, he said, there was pressure to stand out and prove oneself. Some later went to prison. He recalled one episode in which, after ordering pizza, he stole the delivery rider’s scooter.
Football offered the route away. Older boys in his group saw that his ability was far beyond the others around him and put his name forward to Sochaux. He entered the club’s academy in 2001.
The pattern followed him into senior football. In PSG’s 2011-12 season, Menez produced nine goals and 22 assists but also collected 14 yellow cards. Most of the bookings, he said, came for dissent. At 24, he felt he still had the mentality of a boy rather than a fully formed professional, and a strong sense of injustice could lead him to lose control.
- His brother handled his finances throughout his career.
- Menez says his principal indulgence was luxury cars and that he had no other vices.
- Antonio Conte wanted him at Juventus in 2011, but PSG’s approach took priority because joining the Paris club was his dream.
- Manchester United had also been a possibility after France won the European Under-17 Championship.
- Sir Alex Ferguson travelled to Paris to speak with Menez’s father, but the player felt a move abroad would come too early.
- Instead, he signed his professional deal with Sochaux in 2004.
For Serie A, Menez remains one of those players whose best moments were impossible to mistake: the flourish of a backheel, the audacity of a derby finish, and a talent that could light up an afternoon. His own verdict is more restrained. The gifts were real, but so were the injuries and the battles with himself.
