I cost Newcastle £7m but quit at 27 - 5 years on I'm back in France 5th division

The South of France, Newcastle and Rome, with a Ligue 1 title and Champions League appearances to his name, it is fair to say that Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa has enjoyed a storied career.

The 34-year-old initially hung up his boots back in 2020 after a stint with Lyon, while he had not actually taken to the pitch since 2017 - a whopping seven years ago. The four-time French international has now performed a dramatic U-turn on his retirement to sign for French minnows Istres - who play in the fifth tier.

Speaking after the move was confirmed, he said: “The project is interesting and I wanted to get back into the field. I will bring my experience and pass it on to young people.”

To Istres’ credit, they are one of the big hitters of the French lower leagues. They currently sit top of the Championnat National 3 and boast a 17,000 capacity stadium.

It is still some way away from the arenas that Yanga-Mbiwa was used to playing in, though. He kicked off his career with Montpellier in 2007, playing over 200 games and helped the side to the 2011/12 Ligue 1 campaign - the only major domestic title of his career.

His form quickly earned admiring glances from elsewhere. AC Milan attempted to secure a swoop for his services, while the centre-back also reportedly turned down a switch to Arsenal.

Yanga-Mbiwa would eventually move to the Premier League after completing a £7m switch to Newcastle. He represented part of a French revolution at St James’ Park under Alan Pardew.

He joined Mathieu Debuchy, Yoan Gouffran, Massadio Haidara and Moussa Sissoko in signing for the club in January 2013. However, the defender was soon caught off-guard by the difference between the North East of England and the South of France.

"It was difficult because I came from