For a player voted best right-back in Ligue 2 in 2001/02, Yohan Demont's explosive performances for Ajaccio as… an attacking midfielder in 2004/05 were something of a surprise

Signed from Second Division Beauvais in 2002 by Rolland Courbis – who compared him at the time to Willy Sagnol – Demont arrived in Corsica with big wraps as a future star. However injuries and Courbis’ premature departure in the summer of 2003, meant that, despite some promising displays, it wasn’t until the season 2004/05 – and the return of Courbis to Corsica – that Demont finally fulfilled his potential.

“I will always hold Courbis in high regard,” he said. “It was he that came and got me from the Second Division and launched me at the highest level.”

And it was Courbis who, upon his return to the Mediterranean Island, with Ajaccio second bottom in April 2004/05, decided his side needed some more speed going forward and threw Demont into an attacking quartet including Brazilians André Luiz, Edson and Lucas.

Wins against PSG, Monaco, Auxerre and Marseille followed and Demont was being lauded as the catalyst of it all. “Without doubt this has been my best season with Ajaccio. I feel I’ve really progressed, especially with the final ball. I try to be calmer. I still like playing right-back, but attacking midfielder is better. You have the security of knowing that someone is covering you and you can try things without worrying quite so much about the consequences.”

Demont’s rich vein of form - he scored against Marseille and Lyon - couldn’t have come at a better time from the club’s point of view, but also from a personal perspective. Out of contract in June 2005, the man from France’s North would enjoy a return to his roots after three seasons in Corsica. He has no shortage of suitors in the region. “There are a lot of rumours about my future and it’s true I’ve had contact with Lille,” he said. “They have had a super season and it’s a club that I like because I was born just around the corner from Lille. It would be a real challenge for me there."

Demont sealed a move to Lens in the summer of 2005.