Rémy the Revenant: Cabella’s Career to Date
When Rémy Cabella rolled a late penalty past Gerónimo Rulli at the Vélodrome, sealing FC Nantes’ surprise 2–0 victory over Olympique de Marseille, it felt about more than just three points. At 35, Cabella was back in Ligue 1 McDonald’s, back on one of French football’s grandest stages, and once again decisive.
Nantes’ win itself was extraordinary. Marseille were unbeaten at home since last season but unravelled amid chaos: red cards for Arthur Vermeeren and Bilal Nadir left Roberto De Zerbi’s side reduced to nine men, while Fabian Centonze punished a rare Rulli error to open the scoring. Yet it was Cabella’s moment late on — calm, assured, symbolic — that lingered longest. Introduced as part of a winter-window gamble to help drag Nantes away from the relegation zone, he delivered immediately.
From prodigy to nomad
Cabella’s story has never been linear. A product of Montpellier’s academy, he emerged as one of Ligue 1’s most exciting creative midfielders during the club’s post-title years. Technically gifted, instinctive, and capable of the unexpected, he earned a move to Newcastle United in 2014, carrying with him the reputation of a flair player ready to test himself abroad.
That Premier League spell proved bruising. Injuries, managerial instability, and stylistic mismatch curtailed his impact, and Cabella returned to France via Olympique de Marseille in 2015. At OM, flashes of brilliance alternated with frustration. He was never short of confidence or imagination, but consistency — and fit within shifting tactical projects — remained elusive.
A loan to AS Saint-Étienne offered respite, and later permanence. In the cauldron of the Derby du Rhône and amid the fervour of Geoffroy-Guichard, Cabella rediscovered something essential: freedom. His performances for Les Verts were expressive, industrious, and influential — enough to re-establish his credibility at the top level of French football.
Reinvention in the north
It was at Lille, however, that Cabella’s late-career renaissance truly took shape. Arriving as an experienced squad player, he instead became a key creative reference point under Paulo Fonseca and later Bruno Génésio. No longer the raw, mercurial talent of his early twenties, Cabella evolved into a leader — vocal, tactically intelligent, and trusted in high-pressure European fixtures.
Across three seasons at LOSC, he helped guide the club through consecutive continental campaigns, including a dramatic run to the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-finals in 2023–24 and a return to the UEFA Champions League thereafter. His final act in Lille colours was pure theatre: a sublime “aile de pigeon” volley against Stade de Reims on the final day of the 2024–25 season, unfurled beneath a 35th-anniversary tifo from the DVE ultras. It was a goal worthy of a farewell montage — instinctive, elegant, unforgettable.
From Lille, Cabella moved to Olympiakos, adding Greece to an already cosmopolitan CV. While his minutes were limited, he never stopped training, never stopped preparing. That professionalism is what convinced Nantes — and Anthony Lopes, in particular — that he could still make a difference.
The Nantes challenge
Cabella’s arrival at FC Nantes in January 2026 was framed as a short-term mission: five months to help rescue a drifting side entrenched in the relegation battle. In a club operating without a sporting director, his experience and personality mattered as much as his technique. “I could have stayed in the sun in Athens,” Cabella admitted. “Here, it motivated me.”
His message has been consistent: responsibility, urgency, and example. Whether deployed as a No.10 in a 4-2-3-1 or drifting inside from the flank in a 3-4-3, Cabella offers Nantes something scarce — composure under pressure. Ahmed Kantari described him as “a small frame with a big engine,” a veteran capable of providing connective tissue in a tense, fractured campaign.
The penalty at the Vélodrome was only a beginning, but it underlined why Cabella still matters. This was his third act of return — to Ligue 1, to relevance, to influence.
A career defined by survival
Four international caps, multiple clubs, several near-exits from the elite — Cabella’s career has never followed the smooth arc of a superstar. Instead, it has been shaped by adaptation. When pace faded, intelligence sharpened. When starting roles vanished, leadership emerged. When opportunities narrowed, he chose challenge over comfort.
In Nantes’ fight for survival, that mindset may prove invaluable. And for Ligue 1 itself, Cabella’s presence is a reminder that flair does not have an expiry date — it simply learns new ways to express itself.
Rémy Cabella keeps coming back. And French football keeps finding room for him.
READ MORE:
>>Cabella scores as Nantes stun nine-man Marseille
