How is ex-Stoke City player Steven Nzonzi getting on at the moment? | OneFootball

The years between 2012 and 2015 were ones of success for Stoke City, who were dining at the top table of English football for a consistent period of their history.

The Potters made it to the Premier League for the very first time in 2008, and in the four years that followed they had consolidated themselves in the top flight and had also been runners-up in the FA Cup as well.

As Stoke got more comfortable in the Premier League, their signings became more and more expensive and established, as evidenced when Steven Nzonzi arrived at the Bet365 Stadium in 2o12.

He wasn’t the most expensive purchase at £3 million from Blackburn Rovers, but the Frenchman had already racked up 86 Premier League appearances before his switch to Staffordshire.

Quiz: 10 of these 25 Stoke City facts are fake – Can you identify them?

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Stoke were founded in 1863

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Nzonzi became a focal point of Stoke’s midfield, missing just one top flight match in his three seasons at the club, chipping in with six goals in the process.

In the end, Nzonzi moved on in 2015 following three successful years at Stoke and joined Spanish side Sevilla for £7 million – that was over seven years ago though, so what’s he doing now?

Well, following his time at Sevilla, Nzonzi headed on to AS Roma of Italy, and despite his transfer fee for that particular move being €26.65 million, the former France international never really made too much of an impact and ended up making loan moves to both Galatasaray and Stade Rennais.

After his Roma contract came to an end though in 2021, Nzonzi had to wait a few months for his next move to appear, which ended up being to Qatar in the form of Stars League team Al-Rayyan.

Nzonzi joined them in September 2021 and played 27 times in all competitions last season, but it was a disappointing campaign as they finished eighth of 12 teams in the league.

It’s not going much better this season either – with just seven league matches played due to the World Cup being played in the nation, Al-Rayyan currently sit bottom of the table with just a singular point to their name.

Nzonzi has played every single minute of the league season so far, so it’s safe to say his 33-year-old self isn’t doing much to turn the fortunes of his side around.

He was also recently pictured at one of France’s pre-tournament training sessions in Doha prior to the World Cup – with a winners medal in his personal cabinet he is someone that Didier Deschamps’ current crop could learn a lot from in the next few weeks.