Steven Nzonzi

Early career

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

Amiens

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. 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…

Nzonzi earned his first call up to the France U-21 team by coach Erick Mombaerts on 1 October 2009 for their European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Malta and Belgium. He made his debut eight days later in the first match, appearing as a 58th-minute substitute for Younousse Sankharé in a 2–0 victory. He earned his first under-21 international start in the match against Belgium, which ended 0–0. In January 2011, he was called up to the DR Congo national team due to his nationality but he did not want to commit to the international team due to structural problems at the administrative level. He did not rule out playing for the Congolese national team in the future. He again turned DR Congo down in November 2012. In August 2016, Nzonzi's father contacted new England manager Sam Allardyce – who had signed him for Blackburn in 2009 – to inquire whether he was eligible to represent England. Although he had completed more than the five years' necessary residency in the United Kingdom, Nzonzi was ineligible to switch allegiance as he was not eligible for England when he made his debut for France under-21. On 2 November 2017, Nzonzi was called up to the French senior national team for the first time, for friendly matches against Germany and Wales. He made his debut against the Welsh in a 2–0 win at the Stade de France on 10 November, as a half-time substitute for Corentin Tolisso. Nzonzi was part of France's squad that won the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. In…

Nzonzi plays in a defensive role in centre midfield and is noted for being calm and composed whilst in possession and having a good passing ability. He has earned comparisons to compatriot Patrick Vieira both in style and physical ability. He is also able to cover great distance during a match.

In September 2013, Nzonzi was interviewed by police after he was involved in a collision with a cyclist in Hale, Greater Manchester. In October 2015, Nzonzi was ordered to stand trial after allegedly assaulting his wife. He was cleared of the charges in December 2015. Nzonzi has previously commented on the common misstyling of his name as Steven N'Zonzi. In 2015, he separated from his wife and the divorce was finalized in 2016. He started dating Turkish businesswomen Seda Parseker in 2019, and the couple got married in 2021. After marriage she took his surname and now she is known as Seda Nzonzi. The couple have two children together born in 2023 and 2024; named after himself Steven Junior and Siena.