Frederick Kanoute
Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (born 2 September 1977) is a Malian-French former professional footballer who played as a striker for several top-tier clubs in Europe, enjoying his greatest success with La Liga side Sevilla . Kanouté was named the 2007 African Footballer of the Year , the first player born outside Africa to win the award.
Kanouté began his career with Lyon in France before moving to West Ham United of the Premier League in 2000. After a spell at their London rivals Tottenham Hotspur , Kanouté moved to Spanish club Sevilla where he won two consecutive UEFA Cups in 2006 and 2007 in addition to various other European and domestic honours and remains the club's highest-scoring foreign player. He joined Beijing Goan in June 2012.
Despite appearing 16 times for France U-21 , Kanouté was a member of the Malian squad which reached the semi-finals of the 2004 African Cup of Nations and also featured in their selections for the tournament in 2006 and 2010. His international career ended in 2010 with a total of 39 caps and 23 goals.
Frank Ribery
Franck Henry Pierre Ribéry born 7 April 1983) is a French professional footballer who plays for Serie A club
Fiorentina .
He primarily plays as a winger, preferably on the left side, and is known for his pace, energy, skill, and precise passing. Ribéry has been described as a player who is fast, tricky and an excellent dribbler, who has great control with the ball at his feet. While with Bayern, he was recognised on the world stage as one of the best players of his generation. The previous talisman of the French national team, Zinedine Zidane, once referred to Ribéry as the "jewel of French football".
Ribéry's career began in 1989 as a youth player for local hometown club Conti Boulogne. He left the club after seven years to join professional outfit Lille , but departed the club after three years after having difficulties adjusting. In 1999, Ribéry joined US Boulogne , where he played for two years. After spending two more years in the amateur divisions with two clubs ( Alès and Brest ), Ribéry earned a move to Ligue 1 club Metz in 2004. After six months with the club, Ribéry moved to Turkey in January 2005 to join Galatasaray , where he won the Turkish Cup . After six months at Galatasaray, he departed the club in controversial fashion in order to return to France to join Marseille . Ribéry spent two seasons at the club, helping the Marseillais reach the final of the
Coupe de France in back-to-back seasons.
In 2007, Ribéry joined German club Bayern Munich for a then club-record fee of €25 million. With Bayern, he won nine Bundesliga titles (a Bundesliga record), six
DFB-Pokal , one UEFA Champions League and one
FIFA Club World Cup , which include five doubles and one treble , amounting to a then club record of 24 titles over twelve seasons. His form for Bayern in the club's 2012–13 treble winning season saw him nominated alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the three-man shortlist for the 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or . During his long spell at Bayern, Ribéry was also known for his fruitful partnership with fellow winger Arjen Robben —together they were affectionately referred to by the nickname Robbery.
He left Bayern in summer 2019, and subsequently joined Italian side Fiorentina, while Robben retired from football.
Paul Pogba
Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Manchester United and the France national team . He operates primarily as a central midfielder, but can also be deployed as an attacking midfielder,
defensive midfielder and deep-lying playmaker.
Born in Lagny-sur-Marne , Pogba joined the youth team of Ligue 1 side Le Havre in 2007, before a protracted transfer brought him to Manchester United two years later. After beginning his senior career with Manchester United two years later, limited appearances persuaded him to depart to join Italian side Juventus on a free transfer in 2012, where he helped the club to four consecutive Serie A titles, as well as two Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. During his time in Italy, Pogba further established himself as one of the most promising young players in the world and received the Golden Boy award in 2013, followed by the Bravo Award in 2014. In 2016, Pogba was named to the 2015 UEFA Team of the Year, as well as the 2015 FIFA FIFPro World XI , after helping Juventus to the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final , their first in 12 years.
Pogba's performances at Juventus led to him returning to Manchester United in 2016 for a then-
world record transfer fee of €105 million (£89.3 million). [5] The fee paid for him remains the highest paid by an English club. [6] In his first season back, he won the League Cup and the Europa League . In the 2018–19 season, he was named to the PFA Team of the Year.
Internationally, Pogba captained France to victory at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup and took home the award for the Best Player for his performances during the tournament. He made his debut for the senior team a year later and featured prominently at the 2014 FIFA World Cup , where he was awarded the Best Young Player Award for his performances. He later represented his nation at UEFA Euro 2016 on home soil, where he finished as a runner-up, before winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Nicholas Anelka
Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (French pronunciation:
[nikɔla anɛlka] ; born 14 March 1979) is a French professional football manager and retired player who played as a forward. As a player, he regularly featured in his country's national team , often scoring at crucial moments. Known for his ability to both score and assist goals, he has been described as a classy and quick player, with good aerial ability, technique, shooting, and movement off the ball, and was capable of playing both as a main striker and as a
second striker .
Anelka began his career at Paris Saint-Germain , but soon moved to Arsenal. He became a first team regular and won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award the following season. He moved to Real Madrid for £22.3 million in 1999, but did not settle in well and returned to PSG in a £20 million deal. Despite regular first team football in Paris, Anelka set his eyes upon the Premier League once more, moving on loan to Liverpool in January 2002, but joining Manchester City for £13 million at the start of the 2002–03 season.
After three seasons in Manchester, he moved to Turkish club Fenerbahçe for two seasons, before returning to England to join Bolton Wanderers in deals worth £7 million and £8 million respectively. He was then transferred to Chelsea from Bolton for a reported £15 million in January 2008.
In 2009, he won the Premier League Golden Boot award as the
league's top goalscorer. During his transfers over the years, he has built an aggregate transfer cost of just under £90 million. On 12 December 2011, Shanghai Shenhua announced that they had reached an agreement with Anelka to join the team in the winter transfer window .
After one season there, Anelka joined Italian side Juventus on a six-month loan deal in 2013, after which he was released from Shanghai and signed for West Bromwich Albion on a free transfer. Following his dismissal by West Brom, he signed for Mumbai City FC as a marquee player and was named player-manager in 2015.
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