Damien Plessis

Lyon

Born in Neuville-aux-Bois of Réunionnais origin, Plessis started his career at Olympique Lyonnais. Plessis signed for Lyon at the age of 15, and was considered to be one of the team's most promising youngsters, following in the footsteps of Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa.

Liverpool

Plessis signed a three-year contract for Liverpool on the last day of the transfer window in August 2007. He initially played for the reserve team, with which he won the reserves league in 2008. Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez said of Plessis after having signed him, "He is a good player, big and strong, and we're sure he'll do well for us. He's only a young boy with plenty of time to work on his game but it depends on his progress how quickly he can force his way into the first team". Plessis made his debut for Liverpool on 5 April 2008 in the 1–1 away draw against Arsenal. Rafa Benítez described his performance by saying "Today was the debut for Damien Plessis. We knew when we signed him that he was a quality player. He's played really well for the reserves, and to play as well as he did today in this stadium, it shows we are going in the right direction and in time he will be fighting with the likes of Gerrard and Spearing for a first team place." For the start of the 2008–2009 season Plessis was given the number 28 shirt. He made his debut in the UEFA Champions League during a game against Standard Liège. He also started the first match of the season against…

Plessis was a member of the French under-19 team which reached the semi-finals of the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in Austria. He is also a former France under-21 international.