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With the transfer window just around the corner, there are rumours of a swap deal between Manchester United and AC Milan involving Javier Hernandez and France defender Adil Rami. Here’s a look at Rami’s career so far to see how he has progressed.
Early Career
Adil Rami began his football career with ES Frejus where he spent 3 seasons in the fourth division of French Football playing the sport as a hobby. He made 58 appearances for the club between 2003 and 06. In 2006, he moved up 3 divisions by signing for Ligue 1 club Lille for a fee of a meager €10,000.
“School could have got in the way, but I never listened in class. I was always desperate to be up running about and playing football. One teacher called me a ‘phantom student’ because he wasn’t sure whether I really existed or was just a figment of his imagination. I used to dodge school and go off to Cannes or Saint-Tropez to chase girls — I like being a sex symbol. Doesn’t everyone?”
The step up – Lille
Rami was sent straight into the club’s Championnat de France amateur team in order for him to grow as a player. After making 27 appearances, he was called up to the senior team by manager Claude Puel. Rami made his debut at Auxerre as a center back in 2007. He then signed a 3 year deal with the club and received the number 23 jersey.
Just as Rami had established himself in the first team he ruptured his knee ligaments that kept him out for 4 months. But he didn’t lose heart and came back stronger featuring in every match bar one after making his return as Lille finished the season in 7th place.
Rami signed a 2 contract extension in the 2008-09 season and scored his first goal for the club and finished the season with 4 goals and helped Lille finish fifth. His impressive performances attracted offers from Arsenal, Liverpool, and Milan. A €12 million move to Marseille collapsed which left Rami totally distraught. But he put the negativity surrounding the incident behind him and made 96 appearances in the next 2 seasons scoring 5 goals.
Euro Trip – Valencia and Milan
In January 2011, Adil Rami signed for Spanish club Valencia for a fee of €6–10 million. He spent the remaining of the season on loan at Lille. Rami spent 3 seasons at Valencia making 93 appearances and scoring 6 goals before securing a move to AC Milan.
On 25 September 2013, Valencia temporarily suspended Rami from his contract after he gave an interview on Radio Valencia in which he openly criticized his team-mates and his coach, Miroslav Djukic. He was also fined €275,000 of his remaining salary owed for the half of the season, the largest ever imposed by Valencia.
On 16 October 2013, Valencia gave him permission to train with the Italian club and an agreement was reached between the clubs, that the player will be loaned to Milan when the winter transfer window opens, on 3 January 2014, with the option to buy.
He made 22 appearances for Milan and scored three goals. Rami finally made his move to Italy permanent in July 2014 on a three year contract worth €4.25 million. He forgo €500,000 in wages to cover the difference in the fees between the two clubs as Milan offered only €3.75 million and refused to pay his buyout clause of €7.5 million.
Playing Style
His rugged style of defending has made him susceptible to punishment and has 6 red cards in his career to show for it. He uses his Brutish Physique to good effect while playing and his game can be described with the phrase “Hard but Fair”. He has decent pace and shows sensible use of the ball when in possession of it. He is good in the air and likes to spread the play by playing long balls.
“People are always impressed by my strength and power — I just do my job. I go out there to defend well and if I can add a little more than that, then I’m delighted. For instance, I admire Nesta from Milan and Lucio because they are both defenders with talent to bring the ball out elegantly and to lead the team from the back.”
