Mario MELCHIOT

At the end of the Summer of 2006, Pierre Dréossi (General Manager and First Team Coach at Stade Rennais FC) achieved a major coup in the transfer market. Dutch international Mario Melchiot arrived in Rennes on a year’s deal to take over at right-back where Perrier Doumbé was unconvincing. After experiencing numerous European campaigns with Ajax and Chelsea, Melchiot came to relaunch his career after two seasons in the gloom of Birmingham. The poker strike was a winner, the flying Dutchman quickly got back to his best form, and produced top-notch performances with sheer consistency. For the pleasure of his Rennes fans, he even managed to mark the derbies against Nantes and Lorient with goals. Unfortunately, the story came to an end when Rennes missed out on the Champions League in the final seconds of the match at Lille on the last day of the season. “Super Mario” then returned to surf the cash-rich Premier League with modest club, Wigan, but still stayed in the national team with the “Oranje”.