Malbranque started his professional career with Lyon, before moving to England in 2001, where he had spells with Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland.

Malbranque was an unused substitute in the final as Lyon won the 2001 French Coupe de la Ligue.

[4] He eventually made his move to the Premier League in 2001, joining Fulham for a fee believed to be £4.5 million, making his debut in a 3–2 defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United.

Malbranque made his debut for Tottenham Hotspur almost 10 weeks after signing for the club on 8 November at White Hart Lane playing 63 minutes in a League Cup 3–1 victory over Port Vale.

On 12 April 2007, during the second leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-final against defending champions Sevilla, Malbranque famously scored an anomalous own goal.

[11] Malbranque enjoyed his best form in a Sunderland shirt during the 2009–10 season, proving fruitful on the left wing as opposed to the right.

Malbranque remained at Sunderland for the 2010–11 season, moving into a more central role to accommodate loan signing Danny Welbeck.

Malbranque became a fan favourite during his time with Sunderland but in the 2011 summer transfer window it was revealed that he was in advanced talks with French team Saint-Étienne with a view to joining them.

His manager at Sunderland, Steve Bruce, stated he was surplus to requirements, and it was also revealed his transfer would free up funds for new summer signings as well as cut their wage bill.

On 3 August 2011, it was announced Malbranque had signed with French side AS Saint-Étienne on a two-year contract,[12] thus ending a 10-year stay in English football.

A month after joining, rumours circulated that Malbranque had asked to be released from his contract due his son being ill with cancer.

In a UEFA Europa League tie against Hapoel Kiryat Shmona on 4 October, Malbranque delivered another key assist, this time from a corner in the 93rd minute for Gueïda Fofana to head the ball into the net and make the final result 4–3 for Lyon.

He made his sixth Ligue 1 assist of the season for Michel Bastos' equaliser against Nancy on 12 December 2012, with the game ending 1–1.

[18][19] In their first league game of 2013, Lyon played away against ESTAC Troyes on 12 January winning the match 2–1, with Malbranque assisting from the corner for Gonalons' opener in 11th minute.

[24] In February 2004, after failing to break into France's senior squad, Malbranque expressed an interest in representing the Belgium national team.

[26] In November 2012, Malbranque received a call-up to the French squad for a friendly against Italy but again failed to earn his debut cap.