Rio Mavuba has signed for Sparta Prague.
It’s not the biggest signing of the summer and, in fact, most football supporters who don’t keep abreast of goings-on in Ligue 1 won’t even know who Mavuba is.
But the midfielder is a France international with more than 10 caps to his name and he’s featured hundreds of times for Lille since signing for them in 2008.
The 33-year-old doesn’t have a bad resume by any means but none of the above facts about his career were used when Sparta Prague made the decision to announce him to their supporters on Friday.
Rather, they resorted to a piece of conclusive evidence that Mavuba is one of the bravest men in France.
In welcoming the player to the club, Sparta Prague’s official Twitter account showed footage of Mavuba putting Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the ground with one shove to the face.
Bonjour, @riomavuba! pic.twitter.com/5UU8JA34Nk
— AC Sparta Praha (@ACSparta_CZ) July 21, 2017
Amazingly, Mavuba only received a booking after clashing with Ibrahimovic, then at Paris-Saint Germain, during a league game in the 2013/14 season.
But judging by the welcome he received to his new club, he’s still best remembered for flooring a notoriously difficult man to floor more than three years after the incident took place.
