Yoann Gourcuff
Yoann Miguel Gourcuff 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 He could also be utilized as a withdrawn striker; he was described as a "playmaker of real quality", "an accomplished passer of the ball".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 drew comparisons to Zinedine Zidane.
Yoann Gourcuff is the son of Christian Gourcuff. 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 individual honours, he signed with the club permanently. Gourcuff was named Ligue 1 Player of the Year 2008–09 and the French Player of the Year for the 2009 calendar year.
In August 2010, he joined Olympique Lyonnais on a five-year contract. His five years at Lyon were characterized by persistent injury problems. 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. Having terminated his contract in January 2019, Gourcuff's retirement was confirmed by his father in October 2020.
Gourcuff was a French international, winning 31 caps. Prior to playing at senior level, he played on the under-19 team that won the 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. Gourcuff made his senior national team debut in August 2008. He scored his first international goal two months later against Romania. Gourcuff made his first major tournament appearance for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 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.
Early and personal life
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, 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, but eventually opted to focus on football. 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.Club career
Early career and Rennes
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. Further to his father's departure to Stade Rennais, Gourcuff, who initially considered rivals Nantes, followed suit and signed an aspirant contract with the club in 2001. 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. 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. On 18 April, he made his first professional start in a 3–1 win over Bordeaux. Gourcuff made his second career start on the final match day of the season assisting on a goal in a 4–0 victory over Montpellier.
For the second consecutive season under Bölöni, Gourcuff rotated between the club's reserve team and the senior team. He appeared in nine matches with the reserve team and 21 with the senior team. Gourcuff only started six matches with the latter team scoring no goals and providing one assist. In the 2005–06 season, he was reassigned the number 10 shirt by Bölöni and giving a starting place within the team. In his first season as a starter, Gourcuff appeared in 42 total matches and scored six goals. He formed midfield partnerships with fellow Frenchman Olivier Monterrubio and the Swede Kim Källström and made his European debut on 15 September in a UEFA Cup first round tie against Spanish club Osasuna appearing as a substitute. Rennes won the tie 3–1 on aggregate and were later eliminated in the group stage portion of the competition. Three days after his European debut, on 18 September, Gourcuff scored his first professional goal against Monaco in a 2–0 win. In November, Gourcuff scored goals in back-to-back matches against Troyes and Toulouse. In the latter part of the season, Gourcuff went on a scoring run netting three goals in a span of four weeks. He scored the first of these goals on 25 February 2006 in a 4–1 away win over Lyon. After going a week without a goal, Gourcuff responded by scoring goals in back-to-back weeks in wins over Ajaccio and Metz. In the Coupe de France, Gourcuff appeared in all four of the team's matches as Rennes reached the semi-finals where the club was defeated 3–0 by Marseille. Rennes ultimately finished the season in 7th place in the league, which resulted in the club qualifying for the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Gourcuff finished his Rennes career with 80 appearances, six goals, and nine assists.
AC Milan
Following the season, Gourcuff was linked to a host of big name European clubs such as Dutch club Ajax, Spanish club Valencia, and English club Arsenal. He ultimately joined Italian club AC Milan. He signed a five-year contract with the transfer fee being priced at €4.58 million. Gourcuff was assigned the number 20 shirt and made his competitive debut for the Rossoneri on 9 August 2006 in the club's UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie against Serbian club Red Star Belgrade. He appeared as a substitute in the 81st minute for Andrea Pirlo as Milan won the match 1–0. In his next competitive match with the club against Greek outfit AEK Athens in the Champions League group stage, Gourcuff scored his first career goal for the club in a 3–0 win. Gourcuff didn't make his Serie A debut until 20 September playing the entire match in a 1–0 win over Ascoli. In the ensuing matches, Gourcuff rotated between the starting lineup and the bench and capped the season by scoring in Milan's final match of the Seria A season; a 3–2 defeat to Udinese. Despite not appearing in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final, which Milan won, Gourcuff did earn a winner's medal with the club as a result of his participation in the group stage and knockout round matches.Due to Milan winning the UEFA Champions League, Gourcuff was included in the squads that competed in the 2007 UEFA Super Cup and the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup, though he didn't appear in the former match and appeared infrequently in the latter competition. In the 2007–08 Serie A season, Gourcuff struggled for playing time as he was in direct competition with the Brazilian international and 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year winner Kaká. Gourcuff's development and attitude at the club was also questioned by manager Carlo Ancelotti who critically stated that the player had psychological issues. Gourcuff only appeared in 15 league matches for the club starting only four. He scored his only goal of the season on 31 October 2007 in a 5–0 hammering of Sampdoria. On 24 February 2008, after appearing as a half-time substitute, Gourcuff assisted on the game-winning goal scored in the 90th minute by Filippo Inzaghi in Milan's 2–1 win over Palermo. In the final nine matches of the season, Gourcuff was an unused substitute in seven of them. In Gourcuff's final match at the club, he assisted on the final goal by Alexandre Pato in the club 5–1 win over Reggina.
Following the season, on 31 May 2008, Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani revealed that the club would loan Gourcuff to French club Bordeaux for the entire 2008–09 season to allow him more playing time. In 2010, in an interview with French newspaper L'Equipe, former Milan captain Paolo Maldini stated that Gourcuff lacked discipline while at the club and often distanced himself from the team citing the player's refusal to learn the Italian language. Maldini also stated that Gourcuff did not give his all during his stint at Milan and that the player himself knew it. Gourcuff did not respond to the comments, but his father Christian did, stating to France Football that there was some sort of conspiracy out there looking to tarnish his son's image. The elder Gourcuff responded to Maldini's charges stating his son "took two hours per day and spoke Italian after two months" and that "he is passionate about tactics" in response to Maldini saying Gourcuff refused to learn Italian and he was limited tactically. Gourcuff was also defended by his club president Jean-Louis Triaud at his former club Bordeaux who stated in response to Maldini's comments "Yoann is not like that. A number ten who does not play with the group is a little weird. This does not correspond at all to what we saw with Yoann at Bordeaux. He was well integrated with his teammates, and collectively with them on the ground. He left good memories here."