Laville Returns To France

By Mark Heys
August 9 2005

Florent Laville has made the move back to French football in an attempt to re-build a once flourishing career that was hampered by injury.

The 32-year old starts the 2005-2006 season at Corsican-based club S.C Bastia after been given a Free Transfer by Bolton at the end of the last campaign following a two year injury nightmare.

Laville signed a temporary deal with the Wanderers on the eve of the transfer deadline in January 2003. He went on to form a solid partnership with Gudni Bergsson at the heart of the Bolton defence for the last ten games of the 2002-2003 season which went a long way in saving Bolton from relegation.

His switch from French club Olympique Lyonnaise was made permanent two years ago, but just five games into the 2003-2004 season tragedy struck when he was ruled out for the rest of the season following knee ligament damage sustained in the home win over Middlesbrough.

A return to reserve team action was successful in building up his match fitness, as was a breif loan spell with Championship side Coventry City but sadly he could not make the step back up into Bolton's first eleven and was later told he would not be kept at the club following the expiry of his contract.

Laville had no hesitation in linking up with Bastia when they came calling two weeks ago and he lines up alongside a familiar face in Pierre-Yves Andre, the ex-Wanderers loan striker whom he shared a private jet with when rushing into Manchester Airport to complete the pre-deadline move to Bolton.