Grégory BOURILLON

After two years of development at Laval, Grégory Bourillon joined Rennes’ Academy setup in 2002. He made his professional debut in November 2002 under the leadership of Manager Vahid Halilhodzic, and won the Gambardella Cup (French FA Youth Cup) in the company of Faty, Gourcuff and Briand. With a free role in midfield, he progressively eased Echouafni and the disappointing Fleurquin out of the starting line-up. From 2003-2005 he was unable to establish himself in the face of the stern competition from the likes of Didot, Mvuemba, Sorlin, Barbosa and M’Bia. Laszlo Bölöni saw in Bourillon the abilities of a central defender, and moved him to this role in the Winter of 2006. He pairing with John Mensah soon became a roaring success, and they became impossible to shift. In the 2006/2007 season, Raymond Domenech pre-selected him for the French national team. Unfortunately, his progression was stopped in its tracks by a serious knee injury at Sochaux in February 2007, and he never really recovered. Unable to reclaim his place in Rennes, his subsequent spell Paris Saint Germain was unsuccessful.