Mohamed Sissoko

Mohamed Lamine Sissoko Gillan (born 22 January 1985) is a French-born Malian footballer who is currently playing for the French Ligue 1 team Paris-Saint Germain and the Malian national team. Although he could have elected to play for France internationally, he chose to play for the country of his descent, Mali. Sissoko is a tough tackling defensive midfielder .

Club career

AJ Auxerre

Sissoko appeared in the youth system of French club AJ Auxerre, although he never managed to appear with the club's first team prior to his 2003 sale to Spanish La Liga club, Valencia CF, coached by Rafael Benítez. Up until this move, Sissoko had always played as a striker for AJ Auxerre, but began adapting to his new role under his new manager.

Valencia

Following his transfer to La Liga, Sissoko remained with Valencia between 2003 and 2005. At the time, the manager of Valencia was Rafael Benítez, who eyed the Malian player as a talented youngster with obvious potential to turn into a top-notch defensive midfielder. The 2003–2004 season was a very successful year for Valencia and moderately so for the Malian player. Los Che were crowned La Liga and UEFA Cup champions, while Sissoko totaled nine matches and one goal in a friendly fixture for his new club. The following year, Benítez left to manage Liverpool and was replaced by Claudio Ranieri, which gave Sissoko the chance to firmly establish himself in the starting line-up, as the...
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