Clubs: LOSC Lille Métropole, Olympique Lyonnais, Aston Villa FC

• Born in Yaounde, Cameroon, Makoun is the son of former Cameroonian international Jean Makoun, and spent his junior career in his homeland; made first contact with Lille in 1999, aged 16, but had to wait two years for work permit clearance to join the club.

• Made his Ligue 1 debut in November 2002 against SC Bastia and became a first-team regular in 2003/04, making 32 league appearances and scoring his first goal on the opening day of the campaign – in a 1-0 home win against champions Lyon.

• The central midfielder racked up 165 Ligue 1 appearances in six seasons for Lille plus 16 in the UEFA Champions League, half of them in 2006/07 when his team reached the first knockout round before falling to Manchester United FC.

• Made his debut for Cameroon in 2003 and his major tournament bow at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations, at which he was present again in 2006, 2008 (where Cameroon finished runners-up) and 2010. Makoun also played in all three group matches of Cameroon's disappointing 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign.

• Joined Lyon in June 2008, taking the No17 shirt in memory of his late compatriot Marc-Vivien Foé, and scored on his Ligue 1 debut for the club – in a 3-0 win against Toulouse FC.

• Soon established himself as a regular, starting all eight UEFA Champions League games in 2008/09 and appeared in all but one match (the quarter-final second leg) of Lyon's run to the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

• Signed for Aston Villa in January 2011 for €7.1m on a three-and-a-half year contract.