Ligue 1: Will We Ever See the Old Andre-Pierre Gignac Again?

Perhaps that 2010 transfer fee, rumored to be in the ballpark of €16–18 million, which saw French striker Andre-Pierre Gignac switch from Toulouse F.C. to Olympique Marseille, was cursed.

Gignac, who in the two seasons prior to that move had become one of the most prolific strikers in French football (most notably netting 24 goals for Toulouse in 2008-09) has yet pass 16 goals. And signs don't exactly look promising that he will eviscerate the pox any time soon.

The tall, big-boned front man was the revelation of Ligue 1 during that 2008-09 season, when he seemed to score every which way for Toulouse, ending with 24 goals in 37 appearances—a phenomenal 65 percent strike rate.

It was the kind of form that earns national team call-ups and gets the rumor mill churning into overdrive, with new proposed moves to the big clubs around Europe bandied about like an overexcited auctioneer.

Gignac appeared three times for the French national team in 2008-09, but it was during 2009-10 that his work truly paid off.

A goal against the Faroe Islands in World Cup qualifying in August 2009 had seemingly verified Raymond Domenech's decision to bring the Toulouse man into the fold. That goal signaled Gignac's arrival, and he began to feature consistently for Les Bleus.

Yet while his Ligue 1 goal-scoring form dampened somewhat (Gignac would only manage 10 goals in 2009-10 in domestic play), the Toulouse striker simply could not stop scoring for France.

That crucial goal away to Faroe Islands was the match winner (1-0), and for a French side limping into second place in their group behind front-runners Serbia, Gignac's no-nonsense, no-frills approach to play—Je prends le ballon, et je frappe! (I receive the ball, and shoot)—looked the perfect antidote for a side that had become truly lost out on the pitch.

He scored twice in a 5-0 romp over the same Faroe Islands on October 10, 2009, in Guingamp, France, and even netted against Austria in the final match of World Cup qualifying after coming on as a substitute in a 3-1 French victory at the Stade de France.

There were concerns about his fitness, but those qualms were widely allayed due to his rampant form during international duty. If he could score when called upon, that was all that mattered.

Then came the World Cup playoff against Ireland. When that terribly trying affair was over, the honeymoon was well and truly finished for Gignac.

The Toulouse man started both legs of the two-pronged affair up front in Domenech's 4-2-3-1, but he looked a shell of the impacting impresario he'd been only a month before.

A horrible miss on a breakaway in Dublin was forgotten after Nicolas Anelka's winner in that match (1-0), but during the return leg at the Stade de France, Gignac's technique deserted him during an all-around poor performance that saw him earn the encompassing boos that pervaded the pitch that night.

While he was still named to the 23-man World Cup roster for South Africa, and even started a game during France's ill-fated group stage, that's been the last we've seen of Gignac in "bleu"—not unless you count the Marseille maritime shade.

Gignac certainly wasn't terrible during his first campaign for Marseille last season—netting 11 times in all competitions—but the feeling lingered that something was missing from his play.

Former French international Jean Pierre-Papin argued that the striker's game had "become too predictable" in a January 2011 interview with Foot01. Papin, who had watched Gignac extensively with Toulouse as a commentator for Canal+, saw a man who was trying too hard to impress his new Marseille colleagues, and who was struggling to adapt to an environment where he wasn't "the man."

While Gignac did experience an upturn in form in 2011, this past summer still saw him linked with a host of different offers to switch clubs—the most concrete of which came from Premiership side Fulham, who were all set to sign the embattled forward, or at the very least take him on loan.

The move was never finalized, however—the official report was that Marseille failed to nab striker Amauri from Juventus as a replacement, botching the entire deal—and Gignac remained on the Marseille books.

The flying circus was far from over, however. ESPN Soccernet reported that the striker showed up for the season overweight after a long recovery from a groin injury and was promptly sent to Italy for a crash-course fitness regime to get him back on the road to optimal fitness.

Gignac has only featured four times for Marseille in 2011-12, although he is now set to return from yet another injury spell.

How long he remains in southern France remains a mystery, as Fulham boss Martin Jol has signaled his interest in making another run at acquiring the troubled striker's services (Soccernet).

Loss of form can result from any number of reasons. For Gignac, the move to Marseille has never looked to be a sustainable match—Papin may have been onto something in his assessment. Gignac has long thrived on receiving consistent service at Toulouse—his game isn't predicated upon creating for himself, something he's called to do far more frequently in Marseille.

Might he find the speed and pace of the Premiership to be more to his liking? Could combining with Clint Dempsey, Bobby Zamora and Co. fire his career back into life like one of his well-placed strikes of yesteryear?

Only time will tell if a rebirth of sorts is indeed in the former Toulouse man's prospects.