Valentin Noël

Valentin Noël (born 27 April 1999) is a French professional football player who plays as a midfielder for Las Vegas Lights FC of the USL Championship.

Career

Youth and college

Noël was born and raised in Niort, France playing for his hometown club Chamois Niortais F.C. as a youth player, earning a selection to the reserve team Niort II, earning 34 caps and 2 goals. In the 2018/2019 season, Noël was called up to Chamois Niortais F.C. but only spent one game on the bench, without earning a cap.

In 2019, Noël started attending University of Pittsburgh to play college soccer. Noël became a starter in his first year, going on to earn 77 starts, in which he scored 35 goals in addition to notching 13 assists over four years. Noel earned all-freshman team honors in 2019 and all ACC first-team honors in 2020 and 2022, in addition to all ACC second team honors in 2021. In Noel's standout season, he was selected as the 2020 Offensive Player of the Year.

Professional

Austin FC

In December 2022, Noël was selected as the 20th selection in the First Round of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft by Austin FC. In March 2023, Noêl signed with Austin FC's second team Austin FC II on a one-year contract. Noël quickly established himself as a team leader for Austin FC II, scoring a brace to help Austin FC II win their first every competitive match in MLS Next Pro. Noël signed a short-term loan agreement and made his first appearance with Austin FC's first team in a 1–3 loss to Mazatlán F.C. in their first ever Leagues Cup match, coming on in extra time. Noël was a starting midfielder for Austin FC II, scoring their second goal, when they won the 2023 MLS Next Pro Cup, beating the Columbus Crew 2 by a score of 3–1. Noël was named the 2023 MLS Next Pro Cup MVP