Steven Nzonzi Joins USL Dunkerque in Ligue 2

Steven Nzonzi is back in France – and back in Ligue 2. USL Dunkerque have confirmed the signing of the 37-year-old midfielder, adding a World Cup winner to one of the youngest squads in the division.

Released by Stoke City at the start of July, Nzonzi had been a free agent after a quietly efficient 2025-26 season in the Championship. He featured 31 times for the Potters, starting 17 matches and scoring once, a reminder that his game has always been about control rather than headlines. Now he arrives in the north of France as the veteran axis of a team whose average age is just 24.

For Dunkerque, this is more than a marquee name. It is a statement of intent. Two years ago they finished fourth and flirted with promotion; since then, the project has needed fresh authority in the middle of the pitch. Nzonzi, with his 20 caps for France and a winner’s medal from the 2018 World Cup, brings exactly that: stature, calm, and a career’s worth of big-game habits.

The move also closes a personal circle. Born in Colombes, in the Paris region, Nzonzi first made his name in French professional football with Amiens SC in Ligue 2 back in 2008-09. He returns to the division almost two decades later, after a tour of Europe that has taken in England, Italy, Spain and a spell at Stade Rennais FC between 2020 and 2021.

Dunkerque become the 11th professional club of his career. At this stage, he is not coming to reinvent himself, but to elevate those around him. A young dressing room now has a reference point, a player who has lived the pressures that Dunkerque aspire to feel: promotion races, European nights, international tournaments.

The club’s ambition is clear. With Nzonzi anchoring midfield, USLD are not just hoping to steady themselves in Ligue 2. They are daring to look up again, towards the line that separates them from Ligue 1 and the kind of stage their new signing knows better than most.