Midfielders

The disconcerting Stéphane Dalmat was never able to reach his full potential. Questionable behaviour and career choices mined the way that could have led him to the national team. With the signature of a two years contract at the Stade Rennais, the 31 years old his taking on a new challenge. Perhaps the last in a very chaotic career.

Born in the Côtes d'Armor, Julien Féret started his career at the Stade Briochin (Saint Brieuc). Scouted by the Stade Rennais, he joined the club’s academy in 2000. Playing with the Reserve mainly, he came close to obtaining a professional contract but was eventually released by the club. Recruited by AS Cherbourg, he managed a very good 2003-2004 season in the National division, enough to be spotted and recruited in Ligue 2, in Niort and then in Reims. After four (very good) seasons at this level, Féret was transferred to Nancy and discovered the top flight, aged 26. A slow maturing player, he naturally made his way in the top division, becoming one of the best midfielders in the league and a contender for the French national team. After three seasons in Nancy, he acknowledged the interest from Stade Rennes and jumped the occasion to return to his first club. He will be expected to become the club’s technical leader, taking over the role of Jérôme Leroy.

After his beginnings in Mayenne, with Stade Lavallois, Ousmane Dabo joined Stade Rennais aged 13. He made the training at the club's Academy, and his qualities soon brought him to knock at the door of the professional group. In 1995 he was only 18 when he is started in Division 1, breaking through the professional ranks. But, like the defender Mikaël Silvestre who progressed at the same time, Dabo remained under a probationary contract. When Stade Rennais proposed him a professional contract after three years, player and club failed to find a financial agreement, and threats from Rennes leaders eventually convinceD him to leave. Bypassing rules that forced them to become professional in their training club, Dabo and Silvestre leave to Italy and join to Inter Milan. Dabo begins a long italian career, it will take time for impose himself in the squad. He finally succeeds to this point in Bergamo, then in Lazio and wins briefly an international status in 2003.

His transfer was long to conclude, but Stéphane Dalmat eventually joined the Stade Rennais, his eleventh club. Good with both his feet, very technical, he is expected to bring the power and tonicity the Breton midfield was missing. A great hope of French football, emigrated abroad very early in his career (Inter Milan), the former U21 international never confirmed. After three good seasons at the FC Sochaux, he joins the “Rouge et Noir” for a new challenge. Maybe his last…

After three seasons in Germany, in Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern, Georges Mandjeck joined the Stade Rennais in summer 2010. A cameroon international, the young holding midfielder signed a four seasons contract with the Rouge et Noir for a transfer fee of 1.4 million euros. However, because of Yann M'Vila's talent, he is forced to wait for a chance to get in the first team.

This young Châteauroux-trained defensive midfielder was the surprise recruit of the 2009 summer transfer window. Until then, Tongo Hamed Doumbia played for the Châteauroux Reserves in the French fifth division, appearing for only 5 minutes with the first team in Ligue 2. After his arrival in Brittany, he signed a first 3-year professional contract, with the mission to prove his ability with the reserve to apply for a place in the professional squad. In January 2010 however, the combined departures of Bruno Cheyrou and Junichi Inamoto made him the first back-up choice, at the doors of the first team.

The only member of the Squad to be born in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Fabien Lemoine went through all the youth teams at the Stade Rennais. A defensive midfielder, gifted with a good ability to play forwards, he signed his first professional contract in June 2007. Rarely used over his first few months as a professional, he is brought in the first team by Guy Lacombe and quickly becomes a regular starter, pushing Etienne Didot and Bruno Cheyrou to the bench. He has now become a key player of the Stade Rennais squad.

A talented, Vannes born player, Sylvain Marveaux plays his football as an attacking midfielder, both at left and centre positions. Very quick and technical, he was often compared to Olivier Monterrubio on his early years. Trained at the club’s Academy since 2001, he soon became an essential member of the Reserves Team, and he signed a first 3 years professional contract for the Stade Rennais in 2006. With five Ligue 1 goals for his first season in the top flight, Sylvain Marveaux started his professional career to perfection. Unfortunately, his second season was not as convincing while the third was spoilt by a nasty adductors injury. His return, in May 2009, was full of promise, and in 2009-2010, Marveaux managed his best season as a professional, with ten goals and five assists in Ligue 1.

Arrived in Rennes at 14, Yann M'Vila is one of the jewels of Stade Rennes’ Academy. A midfielder, excellent at recovering the ball and organising the play, he soon earned his reputation as a wonderkid, which he strengthened with multiple caps in the French youth national teams and a final victory in the 2008 Gambardella Cup. After being launched in the deep-end with the professional team, in 2009 by Frédéric Antonetti, M'Vila soon became an key-member of the Rennes team, affirming himself as an essential starter. His performances attracted the attention of France’s head national coaches: after only thirty games in Ligue 1, Raymond Domenech pre-selected him for the World Cup in South Africa, but finally let him out of the final squad. A few weeks later, Laurent Blanc gave him his chance with Les Bleus. After a few convincing performances in the national squad, he had earned his place and a new status at the Stade Rennais. He is now one of the flag-carriers of his training club, its most famous and its best recognized player.

His transfer was a long soap opera in summer 2009. Alexander Tettey was highly rated by Pierre Dréossi and Frederic Antonetti, before eventually signing after two months of negotiations. A Norwegian international with Ghanaian origins, he was recruited as a substitute to Stéphane M’Bia. An essential man in Rosenborg’s midfield, Tettey arrived in Brittany with a mission to hold the same role (or even more) in Rennes. High hopes were placed on him, but the opening stages of his first season with Rennes were plagued with injuries, and the player struggled to make his way into the first team, despite obvious qualities.