The French winger is a cult hero after spending 10 memorable years in the Premier League in the noughties with the Cottagers, Tottenham and Sunderland

'The Barclays'. While the Premier League was technically sponsored by the aforementioned bank between 2001-16, the period which is so wistfully looked back upon by fans of a certain vintage is the first decade of the 2000s.

After its initial emergence in 1992, the English top-flight enjoyed a secondary boom in popularity following the turn of the millennium, as overseas television deals and a secondary influx of foreign stars gave the league a truly global appeal. It played host to a number of the games modern icons, too, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Didier Drogba among those who lit up the Premier League on a weekly basis.

When fans refer to 'The Barclays', though, it is not those household names they are referring to. Instead, it is the players who were largely in the background when it came to being headline-grabbing, but were seen as key cogs in the Premier League machine by die-hard fans, while still able to produce moments of magic.

These players have come to be known as the 'Barclaysmen', but what made them so beloved, and what became of them once their Barclays life was over? Here at GOAL, we will endeavour to find out with our latest series, 'Ultimate Barclaysmen'.

As the Barclaysmen trend swept social media recently, one name was thrown around by more than one fanbase: Steed Malbranque. The classy French winger is perhaps best known for his time at Fulham, but he also won over supporters at Tottenham and Sunderland; in total, he spent 10 years in the top-flight, before returning to France.

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Malbranque began his career with Lyon, joining the club as a child in 1994. He played for their youth academy until 1997, when he graduated into the first team. At the age of 18, in 1998, he made his first-team debut, and played 96 games for the side in total.

He was hardly prolific but his technique and dribbling ability drew admirers from across Europe; in his first spell at the club, he only scored 10 goals, but that period coincided with Lyon continually qualifying for the Champions League and dominating domestically.

As a result of his performances in Europe, he was briefly linked with a move to Arsenal – a team Lyon played in the 2000-01 season, losing 1-0 at home and drawing 1-1 away. Malbranque rejected the move to the Gunners, however, as he did not believe that he was ready to make the move to the Premier League.

Instead, in 2001, he moved to Fulham in a deal worth around £4.5 million. He swiftly became indispensable.

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A truly two-footed footballer, Malbranque became something of a Swiss Army Knife for Fulham, playing as both a right and left winger, as well as an attacking midfielder.

In his first season, the Cottagers were hardly pulling up trees; they finished 13th, a mere eight points clear of the drop zone. But Malbranque impressed, scoring eight league goals, including a strike against the team he could have joined: Arsenal.

His finest season at the Cottagers undoubtedly came in 2003-04, as Malbranque notched six league goals and no fewer than 13 assists in a season that marked him out as one of the most creative footballers in the Premier League.

Capable of cutting inside from the right, operating through the middle, dribbling at players, and slicing defences apart with exceptional through balls, Malbranque was slowly making a name for himself as one of the best players in outside of the top four.

Perhaps his best game at the club came on the 25th of October 2003 at Old Trafford against Manchester United; Malbranque scored once and provided two assists in a 3-1 battering of Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering Red Devils. That came during a run of seven games played and seven assists provided, as well as two goals.

In total, Malbranque played 211 times for Fulham, scoring 44 goals and laying on 22 assists; with a total of 66 goal involvements, he averaged a contribution once every three games.

In 2006, having failed to agree to a new contract, he opted to join Tottenham, despite rival interest from around half the league, for a £2m fee.

He only scored six league goals for Spurs, with nine assists added in 62 games, but he swiftly emerged as a fan favourite, such was his unrivalled work ethic and ability to put his body on the line.

He was a defensive winger for Spurs before the position even existed.

A move to Sunderland followed in 2008, but again, he failed to recapture his Fulham form, and he only managed one league goal, as well as 11 assists. Again seen as a lung-busting workhorse, he failed to marry his skill with his output in the north east.

Getty Images Sport'THE MORE DIFFICULT THE GAME IS, THE BETTER HE PLAYS'

Malbranque was nothing short of a big-game player.

Every single time Fulham or Spurs or Sunderland headed into a major game, they could rely on Malbranque to give absolutely everything he had.

After a Fulham win against Hajduk Split in the UEFA Cup, in which Malbranque had to retake a penalty (he scored both times), Cottagers assistant Christian Damiano hailed his adaptability.

He said: “I know Steed very well, so I'm not surprised by him. He has a fantastic quality – which is the more difficult the game is, the better he plays."

Amazingly, when the then-Prime Minister Tony Blair was asked to list his favourite football players, the Labour leader included Malbranque on his list, giving a nod to a player capable of playing on both the left and the right equally effectively.

On the same day as the praise from the politician, Malbranque scored twice in a 2-1 win over Manchester City, with his second coming after a jinking run in which he beat centre-back Sylvain Distin and sat goalkeeper David James down before finishing.

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In 2011, Malbranque finally left English shores as he was deemed surplus to requirements by then-Sunderland boss Steve Bruce, who revealed at the time that the player's family had moved back to France and he was the Black Cats' highest earner.

Malbranque then embarked on something of a nomadic career thereafter, although his initial period with Saint-Etienne led to plenty of confusion.

Having departed Sunderland, he moved to the French club on a two-year contract. He played for the club just once, in a Ligue 1 fixture against Marseille, in which he was introduced as a substitute.

Reports suggested that the midfielder asked to be released from his contract because his son was suffering from cancer, but both he and the club rejected that assertion, with Malbranque confirming at the time that he did not have a son.

Instead, he was allowed to leave via a mutual termination, in September of 2011. In total, he lasted just one month at the club.

All parties were at pains to disclose that the reporting around his family life was incorrect and had nothing to do with his exit.

Instead, Saint-Etienne said in a statement: "St Etienne and the player would like to strongly deny all the rumours referring to the health of Steed Malbranque or children that accompanied the decision of the individual. This choice is his alone and ASSE fully respects Steed's will.