Yann M'VILA

Yann M’Vila arrived at Rennes’ Academy in 2004. The defensive ball-winning midfielder and passer was indispensable in the golden generation which won the Gambardella Cup (French FA Youth Cup) in 2008. As his team-mates Brahimi, Souprayen or Le Tallec, he signed his first professional contract in the aftermath of the victory. But Manager Lacombe didn’t make use of this talented generation, preferring to send them to earn their stripes in the Reserves in 2008/2009. The following season, Antonetti spotted him at pre-season training camp in Carnac, and surprised everyone in the media by saying that M’Vila would end up playing for France, and after a full season in Ligue 1, M’Vila was indeed among the 30 players pre-selected in the provisional squad for the World Cup in South Africa, and gained his first cap for the “Bleues” under Laurent Blanc in August 2010. In the Summer of 2011, he was being courted by the big clubs of Europe (Arsenal had even offered 28 Million Euros), but the midfielder of Congolese roots, extended his stay in Brittany with Euro 2012 on the horizon. After 12 difficult months on and off the pitch, he joined Rubin Kazan after a never-ending soap opera in January 2013.