Lyon took advantage of a clause in Benoît Pedretti's contract to sign the France international from Marseille in the summer of 2005. On joining OM from Sochaux 12 months earlier, the graceful midfielder had insisted on being allowed to leave the Stade Vélodrome if OM failed to qualify for the Champions' League - as was the case.

The 2004-05 season was turbulent one both for Marseille and Pedretti.

The club ultimately finished fifth but constant squabbling at boardroom level made it difficult for either Coaches - initially Jose Anigo, then Philippe Troussier - to build anything constructive on the pitch.

Pedretti made 31 appearances and scored three goals, but failed to impose the kind of influence he had held at Sochaux.

Pedretti is a product of the Sochaux youth system and, at just 19 years of age, played every single match as the club won promotion to Ligue 1 in 2001. The following season, his first in Ligue 1, he was again a regular in the midfield and receiving rave reviews for his stylish distribution and cool head.

Such was the esteem in which Pedretti was held at the club, he was named captain by Coach Jean Fernandez at just 21 years of age. And there was more success in store during the 2002-03 season.

Sochaux finished eighth and qualified for the Intertoto Cup, while Pedretti made his international breakthrough.

Having already been a member of the France Espoirs side that lost the final of the European Championships to the Czech Republic, Pedretti received a call-up from Les Bleus to face Yugoslavia at the Stade de France, just eight days after turning 22.

With superb technique and a cultured right foot, Pedretti is more of a deep-lying playmaker in the Andrea Pirlo, of Milan and Italy, mould than a defensive midfielder. Possessing excellent vision and a maturity beyond his years, he is a France regular and was a member of the 2003 Confederations Cup-winning squad as well as featuring in Les Bleus' Euro 2004 party.