Blanc played professional football for numerous clubs, including Montpellier , Napoli , Barcelona , Marseille , Inter Milan and Manchester United , often operating in the sweeper position. He is also a former French international , earning 97 caps and scoring 16 international goals. He began his managerial career at Bordeaux in , winning domestic honours including the —09 Ligue 1 title. In , he was hired by Paris Saint-Germain, winning further honours.
After three successful years with Paris Saint-Germain he left the club in June Following more than six years without coaching in Europe, he was appointed manager by Lyon in October A very technical, yet slow player, he played as an attacking midfielder and helped the club get promoted to Division 1 in His game being perfectly fitted for the French league, he managed to score at least 12 Division 1 goals per season in his last three seasons at Montpellier, for the most part penalties and headers.
He also won the Coupe de France in , scoring a goal in the final match. Blanc remains Montpellier's all-time leading goal scorer, with 83 in all competitions 76 altogether in Division 1 and Division 2.
On 5 August , Souleymane Camara scored the only goal in the 59th minute in Montpellier's Matchday 1 Ligue 1 1—0 win against Caen to register his 48th Ligue 1 goal for Montpellier, breaking Blanc's longstanding Montpellier record of 47 Division 1 goals scored in four seasons. Guy Roux , impressed by Blanc and looking for a replacement for Dutch international Frank Verlaat , convinced him to join Auxerre in Despite injuring himself early in the season, Blanc came back strongly and played a great part in the team's double that year.
Blanc's success at Auxerre drew the attention of several big European clubs. Blanc agreed to join Barcelona in Spain largely because manager Johan Cruyff wanted him and persuaded him to sign. He played regularly upon his return from injury, but was sent off during the Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final against AIK. After this disappointing season and only one year away from the World Cup , he decided to leave.
