As Nantes battled their way into pole position for the title in 2000/01, one man in their impressive team stood out - and few could dispute that Eric Carrière fully deserved the French Player of the Year award he received for his performances that season.

Many suggested that Carrière would have to go abroad to further his career, but the attacking midfielder opted to stay in France.

Three seasons at Lyon - and three more French championships - preceded his move to Lens in 2004. He also played for France 10 times in that period, scoring five goals. It's not bad going, but a suspicion remains that the gifted Frenchman might have achieved more world-wide recognition had he moved to one of Europe’s ‘big three’ Leagues.

Carrière was a late developer, his big break coming at the not-so-tender age of 22. Nantes sporting director Robert Budzynski remembers going to watch amateur side Muret to run the rule over their promising goalkeeper Dominique Casagrande, who went on to play for Paris Saint-Germain. However, he was far more impressed with Carrière.

Carrière didn't bed into the Nantes side straight away. He arrived with an injured knee and was physically way behind players who had been trained professionally since the age of 14. After two years, the club had to decide whether to fire him or keep him on, as Budzinski remembers: "We kept him, but with some reluctance. Some of our Coaches were against the idea and legendary Nantes Coach Jean-Claude Suaudeau was very doubtful."

Carrière's saviour was physio Stephane Renaud. "The first thing I said to him was: ‘You've got three years of hard work ahead of you if you want to play at the top level.’ After two years of work, he was still incapable of doing a push-up," Renaud remembered.

Eventually Carrière toughened up and has been one of the top midfielders in France for some time now. His vision, speed of thought and an ability to arrive in the penalty area at the right moment make him one of Lens the biggest threats.