DJIBRIL CISSÉ

CLUBS

1998–2004 Auxerre

2004–07 Liverpool

2006-07 Marseille (loan)

2007-09 Marseille

2008–09 Sunderland (loan)

2009–11 Panathinaikos

2011–12 Lazio

2012–13 QPR

2013 Al-Gharafa (loan)

2013 Kuban Krasnodar

2014–15 Bastia

2015 Saint-Pierroise

2017–18 Yverdon

2018–19 Vicenza

COUNTRY

2002-11 France

Extravagant. Flashy. Pants. These words don’t usually come up in FourFourTwo readers’ questions when we put them to players – but then, not every player is Djibril Cissé.

The fashionista and former forward – although maybe not so former; read to the end and then watch this space – enjoyed a career that took him all over Europe and beyond, earning him success in France, Greece and England, including a certain Champions League triumph with Liverpool in 2005.

Fans will recall the colourful haircuts, the fashion sense, the loud cars, the extensive body ink, the luminous facial hair. But they will also remember his goals: 280 of them, across 20 years.

And that’s because, for all of Cissé’s exuberance, he also took football very seriously. After a little more than an hour in the Frenchman’s company, we can sense how devoted, passionate and focused a player he was. A couple of bad leg breaks – injuries that would have finished off a mere showman – may have curtailed the huge potential that he displayed at first club Auxerre, but wherever he went, Cissé wanted to play games and score goals.

Now he wants to answer your posers.

Your father, Mangue Cissé, played for the Ivory Coast. How much of an influence was he on your career?

Morgan Barrett, Birmingham

Yes, my father was quite a big name in Africa. He left the house when I was young, but I always knew what he was doing and I was incredibly proud of his achievements. Being his son certainly developed my ambitions and desire to be a professional footballer myself. No one forced me to be one, but in a way I didn’t really have a choice. There was nothing else for me – it was always football. I guess a lot of that came from my father and his own playing career.

Who was your footballing idol?

ruslanaiman, via Instagram

Jean-Pierre Papin! I’m a Marseille fan and he was my big hero. I liked that it wasn’t easy for him at the beginning of his career – he couldn’t find his form – but he always worked hard and finally it came together for him. He showed people who he was and what he could do. What a player. Do you remember his goals? He was a master at volleys.

How big an impact did the legendary Guy