Yann M'Vila

M'Vila primarily plays as a defensive midfielder and is described as a player who "boasts a fantastic work-rate" and is "robust in the challenge". He is also known for his passing ability and "superb vision". M'Vila has earned critical acclaim for his playing style, which has led to coaches and players drawing comparisons to fellow French internationals Patrick Vieira and Claude Makélélé. Under manager Frédéric Antonetti at Rennes, despite playing as a defensive midfielder, M'Vila acts as the team's deep-lying playmaker and is often instrumental in building-up attacks from the back. His importance in the team was shown in Rennes' 1–0 league defeat to Toulouse during the 2011–12 season, in which the Bretagne side failed to produce anything offensively. M'Vila, himself, declared that Rennes struggled because he was forced to play in a withdrawn role due to "the opponents being organized to close me down" and, as a result, he was "not in the drivers' seat". Though, he plays as a defensive midfielder, M'Vila can also play as a box-to-box midfielder as he has done at times under Laurent Blanc at international level. M'Vila's passing ability and ability to retain possession consistently has been described as "precise" and "imaginative", respectively. His manager Antonetti has declared that M'Vila "reads the game like Makélélé, has the presence of Vieira and can pass the ball like Yaya Touré". In the past two Ligue 1 seasons (2010–11 and 2011–12), M'Vila led the league each season…

Youth

M'Vila has featured for all of France's national youth teams for which he was eligible beginning with the under-16 team. He made his international debut with the team on 23 May 2006 in a friendly against Romania. M'Vila made his only other appearance in the team in the return leg against Romania. M'Vila began featuring as a regular international with the under-17 team making his debut on 5 December 2006 in a friendly match against the Czech Republic. M'Vila scored his first international goal on 20 February 2007 against Portugal in the Algarve Cup. He was a member of the team that reached the semi-finals at the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Championship where they lost to England. In the competition, M'Vila scored a goal against group stage opponents Ukraine in a 2–2 draw. The draw resulted in France advancing to the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in South Korea. M'Vila appeared in all five matches helping the team reach the quarter-finals where they were defeated by Spain on penalties. With the under-18 team, M'Vila appeared in six of the ten matches the team contested. He made his debut with the team in its opening match against the United States in the Tournoi de Limoges. M'Vila appeared in all 18 matches scoring 3 goals with the under-19 team. He was given the honour of captaining the team by coach Jean Gallice. He scored one goal during the qualification process against Romania in a 3–0 victory. The victory assured qualification to the tournament. At the…

Early career

M'Vila began his football career at age six for ES Sains-Saint-Fussien. He spent three years at the club and, in July 1999, joined the biggest club in the region, Amiens SC. M'Vila joined the club as a youth player and practised in the club's soccer school, which was established by his father, who had previously played on the club's reserve team. After spending five seasons at the club, M'Vila left the club after developing friction and ventured to Paris to join Mantes. During his short stint at Mantes, M'Vila lived with his grandparents. M'Vila admitted that, during his time at Mantes, he had "forgot his dream" of becoming a professional footballer. The desire was brought back after he was discovered by a Rennes scout in October 2004. The following month, M'Vila departed Mantes to join the prestigious youth academy of Rennes after signing an aspirant (youth) contract with the club. Among M'Vila's teammates in the youth system included fellow prospects Damien Le Tallec, the younger brother of Anthony Le Tallec, Yohann Lasimant, Abdoul Camara and Yacine Brahimi. The combination of M'Vila, Brahimi, Camara, and Le Tallec, all four being members of the class of 1990, were particularly instrumental in their youth team's successes. With the under-16 team, the foursome won the Tournoi Carisport, a national tournament that regularly pits the top academies in France against each other. Two seasons later with the under-18 team, M'Vila won the under-18 league…

M'Vila was born in Amiens, in the Somme department. His father, Jean-Elvis M'Vila, is a former footballer originally from the Republic of the Congo. He moved to France in 1983 and played football for thirteen years, regularly turning out for the reserves of local club Amiens. His father currently resides in Cholet. He was a police officer and now works in metallurgy. Yann also has two younger sisters and an older brother. His brother, Yohan M'Vila, is a former professional footballer. Yann, himself, is married and has a son who was born when he was eighteen years old.