Blackburn Rovers: Remember Steven Nzonzi? Here’s what he’s up to nowawdays | OneFootball

It has been quite some time since Steven Nzonzi last pulled on a Blackburn Rovers shirt.

Joining the club from Amiens in his native France back in the summer of 2009, Nzonzi would go on to make 96 appearances in all competitions for Rovers, scoring five goals and winning the club’s Player of the Season award during his debut campaign at Ewood Park.

However, the midfielder’s time with the Lancashire club would come to an end in the summer of 2012, when, in the wake of Blackburn’s relegation from the Premier League, the midfielder joined Stoke City for a reported £3.5million fee.

Nzonzi would go on to spend the next three season in the Premier League with the Potters, making 120 appearances in all competitions with the club, scoring seven goals for the club in that time.

But after winning Stoke’s player of the season award for the 2014/15 campaign, Nzonzi would head back to Europe in the summer of 2015, joining La Liga side Sevilla for a fee said to be worth around £7million.

The midfielder’s first season in Spain saw him lift the Europa League title with Sevilla, even being named in the “Squad of the Tournament”.

In total, Nzonzi spent three years with Sevilla, making 136 appearances and scoring eight goals for the club, before heading to Roma in the summer of 2018, in a deal apparently worth £27.3million.

After making 39 appearances and scoring once during his first season with the Italian giants, Nzonzi was loaned to Galatasaray for the 2019/20 season.

That loan was cut short in January 2020 however, with Nzonzi having played just 15 times for the Turkish outfit.

Nzonzi then returned to his native France that same month, moving on loan to Rennes for the remainder of the 2019/20 season, a move that was then extended into the 2020/21 season.

During his 18 months with the Ligue 1 side, Nzonzi made 46 appearances across all competitions, helping them to third and sixth place finishes in the French top-flight.

However, the midfielder was on the move again earlier this year, leaving Roma permanently this time, as he joined Qatari side Al-Rayyan on a two-year contract back in September 2021.

So far, Nzonzi has made seven appearances in all competitions for his current club, who currently sit eighth in the 12-team Qatari top-flight.

On the international front, Nzonzi has won 20 senior caps for France – those appearances coming between 2017 and 2020.

Undoubtedly his finest moment came in 2018, when he was part of the French squad that lifted the country’s second World Cup title, even coming off the bench as a 55th minute substitute in the 4-2 win over Croatia in the final.