Yohan Cabaye, a new International player at ASSE

This Tuesday, AS Saint-Étienne reached an agreement with Yohan Cabaye (33 years old), the International midfielder with 48 selections and 4 goals on the French national team. The former player for Lille, Paris, Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Al-Nasr signed a one-season contract with the Stéphanois club.

An eleventh prestigious recruit

Trained by Lille OSC, where he played in all the youth categories, the native of Tourcoing distinguished himself very well with his vision of the game, his technical qualities and his scientific passes. In Lille, with Mathieu Debuchy, one of his closest friends, he’s part of the golden generation of the northern club that won the French Cup and the French Championship in 2011. The climax of seven seasons for the club that trained him and with which he played 253 matches and celebrated his first selections wearing the jersey of the French national team.

During the summer of 2011, Yohan Cabaye took things to the next level when he joined Newcastle. His complete profile as a midfielder was perfectly compatible to the very demanding Premier League. He played three years with the Magpies for what was the first of two adventures in England. In 2015, he once again crossed the Channel to play in the Crystal Palace. In the middle of his 202 Premier League matches, a one-and-a-half-year period with PSG, the club with which he won two French Championships (2014, 2015), two Coupes de la Ligue (2014, 2015) and one Coupe de France (2015). In 2018, the triple French champion gave his career a new dimension when he joined Al-Nasr Dubai SC, in the United Arab Emirates.

An essential player for the Bleus

International player since U17 category, Yohan Cabaye brandished the U19 World Cup in 2005. Later selected for U20, he was even captain of the Espoirs. August 11, 2010, he honoured his first selection with the French national team during a match between France and Norway. By a quirk of fate, he replaced a certain Yann M’Vila during this match.

Immediately after, the player from the north became an unquestionable starting player with the Bleus. He participated in Euro 2012 and profited from this to score his first goal with the Bleus against Ukraine (2-0). Two years later, in Brazil, he reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup with the French team, dominated by Germany (0-1). Retained for Euro 2016 played in France, he took part in the great journey of the Bleus, solely beaten by Portugal in the final (0-1), after having particularly contributed to the resounding success against Germany (2-0) in the semi-finals.

Triple champion of France, Yohan Cabaye brings his international experience to ASSE where he will wear the number 29.

> Yohan Cabaye: "It’s with great joy and great pride that I sign with AS Saint-Étienne. I want to recover all my instincts as quickly as possible. Like the club, I have the ambition of realizing a great season. With Mathieu Debuchy, I reunited with a friend here. His presence factored into my choice"

> Roland Romeyer (President of AS Saint-Etienne): “We are proud to return to Ligue 1 an International French player. Yohan Cabaye knows the demands of the highest level. He was a French champion with Lille and PSG. He also played in the Champions League. His great experience is a great added asset to the club. Yohan is a player with whom we were already in contact during the last winter transfer window. All the conditions could not be met in order to reach an agreement. But Yohan and the club retained the same desire to undertake an adventure together."

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— AS Saint-Étienne (@ASSEofficiel) August 27, 2019