Steven Nzonzi

Steven Nkemboanza Mike Christopher Nzonzi (born 15 December 1988) is a French professional footballer for Süper Lig club Konyaspor.

In 1999, he joined the youth system of Paris Saint-Germain playing at the Camp des Loges, the club's youth academy.

While at Paris Saint-Germain, Nzonzi, due to his height, was initially installed in the club's academy as a striker and then as an attacking midfielder.

After a three-year stint at the Ligue 1 club, he moved to the Basse-Normandie region joining CA Lisieux.

He later had one-year stints at both SM Caen and AS Beauvais Oise before finally settling in with Amiens SC in 2005.

After featuring in the Championnat de France amateur 2 for his first two years at the club, Nzonzi made his professional debut on 24 November 2007 in a Coupe de France match against amateur club AS Raismes appearing as a substitute in the 74th minute, Amiens won the match 7–0.

He earned his first start on 15 April 2008 playing the entire 90 minutes in a 1–0 loss to Bastia.

Following the season, he signed his first professional contract and was officially promoted to the senior team.

Nzonzi was given the starting defensive midfielder role for the 2008–09 season and appeared in 36 total matches.

Nzonzi began his career with Ligue 2 side Amiens, impressing enough to earn a move to Premier League side Blackburn Rovers in 2009 for £650,000.

He also scored his first professional goal in a 2–1 defeat to Strasbourg on 8 May 2009.

The defeat to Strasbourg led to Amiens going winless in their final four matches, which led to the club suffering relegation to the Championnat National, France's third division of football.

Despite the relegation, Nzonzi was applauded for his play and he was linked with a move to the English Premier League, with Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth showing a serious interest in the young Frenchman, who many hailed as the next Patrick Vieira.

On 28 June 2009, it was reported that Blackburn Rovers had agreed a deal with Amiens to sign Nzonzi.

The move was completed on 30 June, signing for a fee of £650,000, on a four-year contract.

On 15 August 2009, Nzonzi made his debut for Blackburn where he made his first start in a 2–0 loss against Manchester City and since making his debut, found himself very much part of Sam Allardyce's plans.

He scored his first goal for Rovers on 4 October 2009 against Arsenal in the 6–2 defeat.

After scoring his first goal, Nzonzi admitted he had been surprised at how quickly he had established himself in the side but was determined to keep his place in the starting XI.

His second goal for the club was a 30-yard strike against Everton on 17 April 2010 in a 3–2 defeat at Ewood Park.

On 3 May 2010, during the pre-match build up to the Arsenal game, he was announced as the Blackburn Rovers Player of the Year for the 2009–10 season, chosen by the fans.

In August 2010, Nzonzi signed a new five-year deal with Blackburn, lasting until summer 2015.

Rovers chairman John Williams said: "We are delighted to secure Steven for the long term. He was outstanding last year and the new deal is richly deserved."

He spent three years at Ewood Park which ended with Rovers being relegated at the end of the 2011–12 season.

He remained in the Premier League however, joining Stoke City for £3 million.

On 21 August 2011, Nzonzi scored his third goal for Blackburn with a header against Birmingham City in a 2–1 defeat at St Andrew's.

Soon after Nzonzi found himself dropping down the pecking order as a result of both Phil Jones and Vince Grella's form in midfield.

This led Allardyce urged him to raise his game and recapture his form of last season.

Later on in his second season, Allardyce was sacked and replaced by Steve Kean.

On 2 April 2011, Nzonzi received his first red card of his career in a 0–0 draw against Arsenal two-footed challenge on Laurent Koscielny.

Nzonzi was banned for 4 matches and on 30 April 2011, Nzonzi made his return in a 1–0 win over Bolton Wanderers.

On 26 November 2011 against Stoke City, Nzonzi was hit with a violent conduct charge for intentionally elbowing Ryan Shawcross in the face.

Nzonzi served a three-match ban after admitting an FA charge of violent conduct.

At Stoke, Nzonzi established himself as a key member of the squad under Tony Pulis and then under Mark Hughes, where his performances during the 2014–15 earned him the Player of the Year award.

He joined Spanish side Sevilla for a fee of £7 million in July 2015, and won the UEFA Europa League in his first season.

In November 2017, he made his debut for the senior France squad, and he was part of their team that won the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Born in La Garenne-Colombes, France, to a Congolese father and French mother, he began his career playing for hometown club Racing Paris.

Nzonzi joined Italian club Roma in 2018, where he played a season before being loaned to Galatasaray in Turkey and Rennes in France the following two seasons.

In 2021, he signed for Qatari side Al-Rayyan.

Nzonzi represented France at under-21 level.

He turned down the chance to represent his ancestral DR Congo at senior international level, and was unsuccessful in his attempt to become eligible to play for England.