Bodmer’s transformation from a reserve-team player at Caen to one of Lille’s most influential players in less than two years was extraordinary. Caen boss Patrick Remy did not regard Bodmer as top-flight material and jumped at the chance to take the £700,000 that Lille put on the table for him. After taking a year to settle, the hard-working defensive midfielder was one of the revelations of the 2004-05 season.

A good tackler, who uses the ball simply but intelligently, Bodmer has been capped at Under-21 level and was attracting the attention of France boss Raymond Domenech in 2005. He has also caused three of Europe’s leading clubs - Arsenal, Milan and Lyon - to sit up and take notice.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has asked his former player Gilles Grimandi to monitor the youngster's progress but Lille President Michel Seydoux has already warned Wenger off. “It is totally out of the question,” he said in March 2005. “He is staying and that’s the end of the matter.”