Stéphane Sparagna

Marseille

Having joined Marseille's academy at the age of seven, Stéphane Sparagna spent his formative years developing his game in the club's La Commanderie academy. His progression into the first team was halted in September 2013, however, when he was forced to undergo surgery following a meniscus injury to his right knee which ruled him out for several months. Upon recovery, and following the appointment of former Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa as manager, Sparagna made his noncompetitive debut for Marseille alongside fellow academy graduate Jérémie Porsan-Clemente in a friendly clash with Benfica in July 2014. He was handed his Ligue 1 debut by Bielsa on the opening day of the 2014–15 season in a 3–3 draw with Bastia. Sparagna started the match before being substituted at half-time for Brazilian Lucas Mendes with Marseille leading 2–1. He went on to make three further appearances for the senior side during the campaign, amassing a total of 73 minutes of playing time as Marseille ended the season in fourth place. At the end of the season Sparagna signed his first professional contract with l'OM, ending months of speculation linking him with a Bosman move to Premier League club Arsenal. Having lost Mathieu Flamini to Arsenal on a Bosman deal in 2008, Marseille were prompt to conclude a new deal with Sparagna in order to avoid a repeat occurrence.

Sparagna featured prominently during the pre-season and started in Marseille's 2–0 win over Juventus in the annual…

Youth teams

On 7 June 2015, Sparagna captained the France U20 squad to victory in the 2015 edition of the annual Toulon Tournament, scoring the winning goal from a Romain Habran corner in the final against Morocco. In doing so, he led France to their first victory in the tournament since 2008. Prior to scoring in the final, Sparagna had also netted from a free-kick in a 3–1 win over the United States in the tournament's opening game. Following his success at U20 level, he was awarded his debut for France U21 on 15 November 2015 but was sent off for two bookable offences in a 2–2 draw with Macedonia.

In the early years of his career, Sparagna was described as an athletic and combative centre-back, with his uncompromising approach to tackling drawing comparisons to the likes of Sergio Ramos and Thiago Silva. Marseille's former director for youth recruitment, Georges Prost, described him as a real competitor capable of controlled aggression and precision.

On 10 May 2016, Sparagna took part in the second edition of the Marseille Live Poker Tournament, a tournament hosted by the club and broadcast in conjunction with online Poker company, Winamax. He finished the tournament in 19th position, the highest of any of the Marseille players who took part.