From Alpine Academy to Premier League: How Giulian Biancone Became the Defender Everyone Wants to Watch

The first time I noticed Giulian Biancone, he was sprinting back toward his own goal at full tilt, arms pumping like pistons, while a much older winger tried to cut inside. The winger had two yards on him, the crowd was already groaning, and then—somehow—Biancone arrived. He didn’t dive in, didn’t flail; he simply nudged the ball away with the outside of his boot, spun 180 degrees, and set off the other way. It looked accidental until you realized he’d done it three times that half.
That clip, buried in a Ligue 1 highlights reel from January 2022, feels like a useful place to start, because it captures the two qualities that separate Biancone from the conveyor belt of modern full-backs: recovery speed married to an almost old-fashioned calmness once he catches up. In an era when many defenders treat every duel like a sprint race, Biancone runs to win the marathon.
A childhood shaped by altitude
Biancone grew up in the Haute-Savoie town of Annecy, a place ring-fenced by mountains and better known for paragliding than for producing elite footballers. The local club, Évian Thonon Gaillard, had folded by the time he turned twelve, so he made the daily climb—sometimes literally—to the Olympique Lyonnais academy in nearby Décines. Coaches there quickly discovered that the thin Alpine air had given their new left-back an unusual engine; while others gasped through interval sessions, Biancone finished with energy to spare.
But raw stamina is common in academy football. What caught the staff’s eye was the way he studied opponents during water breaks, quietly noting whether a winger preferred the outside or inside foot. Lyon’s academy director at the time, Bernard Lacombe, still tells the story of a 14-year-old Biancone scribbling tiny diagrams on a napkin at half-time, then using the information to shut down the same trick inside the first five minutes of the second half.
Lyon, Monaco, and the education of a modern defender
Biancone’s professional debut arrived in December 2020 against Reims. He played right-back that night—he has always been ambipedal—and was tasked with marking Boulaye Dia, Ligue 1’s in-form striker. Dia ended the match with zero shots on target.
Yet Lyon’s squad was stacked: Dubois, Cornet, Emerson, Gusto. Minutes were scarce, so when Monaco came calling in the summer of 2021, Biancone jumped. The move looked sideways at first; Monaco already had Vanderson and Caio Henrique. But Niko Kovač, then in charge, wanted competition and, privately, believed Biancone could become a ball-playing centre-back in the long run.
Monaco’s training ground in La Turbie sits 500 metres above sea level, so Biancone felt immediately at home. Over two seasons he made 37 senior appearances, split almost evenly between full-back and the right side of a back three. He learned to delay attackers instead of diving in, to funnel them toward Monaco’s midfield screen, and—crucially—how to build play under pressure. Watch any Monaco match from the 2021-22 run-in and you’ll see Biancone receiving on the half-turn, already looking past the first press. It’s the kind of detail scouts notice when they’re hunting for defenders who can survive in the Premier League.
Forest, the Premier League, and the injury setback
Nottingham Forest triggered his £5 million release clause in July 2022. Steve Cooper’s sales pitch was simple: come in as back-up, start in the cups, learn the league. Biancone liked the idea of English football’s intensity, but also the fact that Forest’s training complex at Wilford is built on the banks of the Trent—flat, muddy, and nothing like the Alps. Variety sharpens the mind.
He made his league debut against Everton in August, replacing the injured Neco Williams and helping secure a 1-1 draw at Goodison. Three weeks later, in a Carabao Cup tie at Spurs, he tore his ACL while stretching for a loose ball. The sound, captured by pitch-side microphones, made the stadium wince.
Rehabilitation took nine months. Forest quietly extended his contract, and the medical staff were struck by his refusal to rush. Biancone insisted on extra balance work, arguing that if he could relearn proprioception at altitude, he could do it in the East Midlands. By the time he returned to full training last spring, Forest had signed two new right-backs. He didn’t complain; he simply trained harder, then dominated pre-season friendlies against weaker opposition, reminding everyone why they’d bought him in the first place.
What makes him different
Plenty of defenders are quick. Plenty can pass. Very few switch between a four-man and a five-man back line without needing a GPS. Biancone’s versatility isn’t the flashy kind—he’s not a utility player filling gaps. Instead, he reads the structure, decides how high to step, and communicates the adjustment so clearly that teammates rarely look confused.
Forest captain Joe Worrall jokes that Biancone “speaks centre-back” even when he’s playing wing-back. Watch him organize a high line and you see the Lyon academy influence: constant scanning, small gestures to the midfielder in front, a tap on the shoulder to tell the winger when to drop. It’s understated choreography that rarely makes highlight reels but wins matches.
The road ahead
At 23, Biancone is no longer the teenage prospect Lyon once hoarded. He’s also not yet the finished article. Forest’s new manager, Nuno Espírito Santo, likes to invert his full-backs into midfield, a role that demands even sharper decision-making. Early signs from training-ground footage suggest Biancone has been practising disguised passes with his weaker left foot, the final piece in the puzzle.
France’s senior squad remains stacked at full-back—Clauss, Pavard, Koundé, even the emerging Calvin Ramsay—but Didier Deschamps has reportedly asked the FFF to keep tracking Biancone because “he can solve more than one problem.” In other words, he’s the defender you can take to a tournament when you can only name 23 players.
Back in Annecy, the local club has reformed at amateur level. Their youth teams now finish sessions with the “Biancone Run”: a 40-metre sprint, recovery jog, then a perfectly timed standing tackle. Kids race each other, laughing, arms pumping just like the boy who left for Lyon a decade ago and never stopped running.