Much was expected of Edouard Cissé when he starred as a graceful midfielder for Raymond Domenech’s France Under-21 side in the late 1990s. Good ball control, poise in possession and tenacious tackling were all features of the youngster’s game. The way in which his long legs helped him eat up the ground and cover from box to box drew comparisons with another emerging talent at the time - Patrick Vieira.

But while the Arsenal skipper has gone on to captain his country, Cissé remains uncapped and has struggled to fulfil that early potential.

Born in south-west France in 1978, Cissé started in the youth team of his local club Pau but soon earned a move to the capital when Paris Saint-Germain came knocking. He made his Ligue 1 debut against Nantes in 1997 but was sent on loan to Rennes the following year. That started a trend which would see Cissé’s PSG career threaten to take off, only to be dashed by changes of Coach or a dip in confidence, on several occasions.

Deemed surplus to requirements by Luis Fernandez, Cissé moved on a season’s loan to West Ham in 2002. In what turned out to be a trying term for the London club, he made 25 Premier League appearances. Still on the books of PSG, he was subsequently loaned to Monaco in the summer of 2003.

It was under the guidance of Didier Deschamps that Cissé finally flourished. He enjoyed his best season in 2003/04, making 33 League appearances and helping Monaco reach the Champions’ League final. Returning to Paris a new man, Cissé soon had the confidence sapped out of him again - this time by Vahid Halilhodzic. The Bosnian trainer employed Modeste M’Bami and Lorik Cana in central midfield, and Cissé found himself either on the bench or in an unaccustomed role on the right wing.