PLAYER PROFILE

Mikael Silvestre

Position: Defence

Height: 6'1

Weight: 13st 7lbs

Date of Birth: 1977-08-09 Chambray-Les-Tours, France

Mikael Silvestre

French international defender Mikael Silvestre had a reputation as one of the most promising young defenders in Europe when he arrived at Old Trafford in September 1999 for £4 million from Inter Milan.

Having started his career as a 17-year old at French side Rennes, he joined Inter at the start of the 1998/99 season. After just one season at the San Siro he started to attract interest from other clubs across Europe and despite interest from Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier, he decided to accept Sir Alex Ferguson's offer and moved to Old Trafford.

His first season at Manchester United proved difficult as he struggled to adapt to the pace of the Premiership. He recieved a large amount of criticism from both fans and pundits whilst playing at left-back but finally started to look comfortable in the side after moving to centre-back alongside Jaap Stam. But he was then moved back to left-back and whilst looking comfortable going forward, never really settled defensively

The following season saw Silvestre start at left-back but following an injury to Rio Ferdinand and Lauren Blanc's stuttering form, he was moved to centre-back where he excelled alongside Manchester United youngster Wes Brown, with his pace proving a useful assett against quick forwards. He helped United to win the Premiership, the last time they won the title.

The following season proved more difficult for Silvestre as Rio Ferdinand's 8-month ban for missing a drugs test split up their impressive partnership and meant he was paired with an unfit Wes Brown at the back. United stuttered into third place although this was countered by a 3-0 win in the FA Cup Final against Millwall.

The next season saw Silvestre's appearances become more limited with the arrivals of Gabriel Heinze, Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic meaning he dropped down the pecking order. He was offered the chance to leave, with former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier keen to take him to Lyon but he turned down the move, insisting on fighting for his place at Old Trafford.

However, with both Evra and Vidic establishing themselves as first choice in 2006/07, Silvestre found himself out in the cold and only making sporadic appearances in between two lengthy spells out injured.