Shabani NONDA

Stade Rennais FC showed themselves to be part of the “nouveau riche” in the Summer of 1998 following the buyout by Pinault of the club, and spend 6 Million Euros on Shabani Nonda, someone compared to Weah, without a second thought. The striker from Zürich was the first major transfer coup of Pinault’s Red and Blacks. Nondi had scored 36 goals in 3 seasons in Swiss football, and was top scorer in the Swiss championship in 1998, and he convinced Rennes’ recruitment team (Moutier and Lefillatre) and also Manager Le Guen to make an effort from a financial perspective. After two matches to settle in, the Burundi-Congolese player scored against Le Havre in a 2-1 win, and demonstrated his power and his goalscoring nous to be decisive in lots of situations. He went on to score 18 goals in his first season, and one more than that total in 1999/2000, one of which was historic, the equaliser in a 2-2 home draw against Juventus. After two seasons, which made him a living legend in Rennes, he signed for Monaco in July 2000 for a club record fee at the time of 20 Million Euros.