While beginning his career as a football player, Gourcuff admired and drew inspiration from the playing style of the Brazil national team from the 1970s, whom he discovered from watching tapes with his father.
He often attempted to emulate the skills of Brazilian legend Pelé.
1986
Yoann Miguel Gourcuff (born 11 July 1986) is a French former professional footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder.
He could also be utilized as a withdrawn striker; he was described as a "playmaker of real quality", "an accomplished passer of the ball".
He was widely characterized as one of the most promising French youth talents of his generation.
His talent, playing style, tenacity on the pitch, technical skills, as well as precocious ability have drawn comparisons to Zinedine Zidane.
Yoann Gourcuff is the son of Christian Gourcuff.
1992
Gourcuff began his career with Lorient, who were, at the time, managed by his father Christian in 1992.
During his time at Lorient, he also trained at PEF Ploufragan, a regional academy located in the Brittany region that trained players similarly to the Clairefontaine academy in the Île-de-France.
2001
In 2001, he followed in his father's footsteps and joined Rennes.
After progressing through the youth ranks and making the senior team, Gourcuff quickly became a fan favorite among supporters and his individual achievements soon led to interest from clubs abroad, which resulted in a move to Italian club AC Milan.
he achieved many club honours despite not being able to break into the starting eleven, which resulted in the player being sent on loan to Ligue 1 club Bordeaux.
Following a successful season, in which Bordeaux captured the league and league cup double and Gourcuff attained several individuals honours, he signed with the club permanently.
Further to his father's departure to Stade Rennais, Gourcuff, who initially considered rivals Nantes, followed suit and signed an aspirant (youth) contract with the club in 2001.
2003
He spent two years in the club's youth academy and, while competing domestically in the system, Gourcuff played on the club's under-19 team that won the 2003 edition of the Coupe Gambardella.
Rennes defeated Strasbourg 4–1 in the final match at the Stade de France.
Gourcuff scored the club's opening goal.
Included on that team with Gourcuff were future club and international teammates Jimmy Briand and Sylvain Marveaux.
Ahead of the 2003–04 season.
Gourcuff was promoted to the club's reserve team in the Championnat de France amateur, the fourth level of French football, Gourcuff appeared in 15 matches and scored two goals with the team before signing his first professional contract in November 2003, which resulted in his promotion to the senior team by manager Laszlo Bölöni.
2004
Gourcuff made his professional debut on 25 January 2004 in a 2–0 victory to Croix-de-Savoie in the Coupe de France appearing as a substitute.
On 7 February, he made his league debut in a 2–0 defeat to Auxerre appearing as a substitute.
Following the match, he was relegated back to the reserve team.
Gourcuff returned to the senior team in late March making two more substitute appearances against Strasbourg and Lille.
2005
Prior to playing at senior level, he played on the under-19 team that won the 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
2006
After joining the national team, he was inserted into the playmaker role, a position that was vacated and never filled following the retirement of Zidane in 2006.
Gourcuff was born in Ploemeur, Brittany to parents Dr. Marine Thalouarn and Christian Gourcuff, both of whom are Bretons.
He comes from a very athletic family: his mother was a basketball player, his older brother, Erwan, is a competitive swimmer and cyclist, while his father was a former footballer who played for several clubs in such countries as France, Switzerland, and Canada.
However, his father was best known for his time at Rennes, Lorient, and Le Mans.
Gourcuff's father later moved into managerial roles, having stints at Rennes, Le Mans, Lorient (three times), and Qatari club Al-Gharafa.
As a youth, the younger Gourcuff excelled at both football and tennis, becoming the top player of his age group (12), but eventually opted to focus on football.
2008
Gourcuff was named Ligue 1 Player of the Year 2008–09 and the French Player of the Year for the 2009 calendar year.
Gourcuff made his senior national team debut in August 2008.
He scored his first international goal two months later against Romania.
2010
In August 2010, he joined Olympique Lyonnais on a five-year contract.
His five years at Lyon were characterized by persistent injury problems.
Gourcuff made his first major tournament appearance for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
2015
He returned to his former club Rennes in 2015, where would he play for three seasons before signing for Dijon, the final club of his career.
2019
Having terminated his contract in January 2019, Gourcuff's retirement was confirmed by his father in October 2020.
