Shabani Nonda

Born in Bujumbura, Burundi, Nonda began his career at Atlético Olympic in 1992. After training in Uganda with Mbarara F.C. then playing in Tanzania with Young Africans and in South Africa with Vaal Professionals, he was discovered by FIFA agent Marcelo Houseman who then placed Nonda in Switzerland with FC Zürich in 1996 for a transfer fee of US$150,000. After finishing top goalscorer in Switzerland two years running he was transferred to French side Stade Rennais in 1998 for a record fee of US$9 million, and later moved to AS Monaco in 2000 again for €20 million, to replace David Trezeguet. His performances, including those in the 2004 UEFA Champions League final, earned him a move to Serie A club AS Roma on a three-year deal in 2005, for which he earned €1.8 million in gross per season. (however the tax rate including regional tax may have added up to around 50%) However, he never lived up to his potential – partly due to a knee injury sustained while at Monaco – and spent the 2006–07 season on loan at English side Blackburn Rovers. While at Blackburn, Nonda announced his intention to sign a permanent deal, Blackburn opted not to sign Nonda on a permanent deal and he later signed for Turkish club Galatasaray in August 2007 on a two-year deal. On 28 January 2010, Galatasaray released him by mutual consent.

Though he was born in Burundi, Nonda holds citizenship from Democratic Republic of the Congo and to date 36 international caps for the country, with 20 goals since 2000. He retired from international football in 2005, and returned in 2007. He scored a hat-trick against Djibouti in World Cup Qualifications in 2008.

Club

Monaco

Coupe de la Ligue: 2002–03; runner-up: 2000–01 UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2003–04 Roma

Supercoppa Italiana: 2007 Galatasaray

Süper Lig: 2007–08 Turkish Super Cup: 2008 Individual

Swiss Super League top scorer: 1997–98 (24 goals) Swiss Foreign Footballer of the Year: 1997–98 Ligue 1 top scorer: 2002–03 (26 goals) Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2002–03