From professional footballer to DJ: What happened to former Liverpool star Djibril Cissé?

When they're on the pitch, some football players have the ability to catch everyone's eye: such was the case with Djibril Cissé. With his countless tattoos and natural charisma, the flamboyant Frenchman is not a player you'd forget.

A formidable goalscorer in his prime, Cissé excelled in Ligue 1 before conquering Europe with the Reds. For several years now, however, he has had a new playground: the dance floor.

After just over two decades on the pitch, Cissé decided to turn to music under the name DJ Tcheba.

From footballer to DJ, Cissé has had an extraordinary career. Here's a look back at the crazy path of the Auxerre legend.

The son of former Ivorian international Mangué Cissé, young Djibril grew up in the neighbourhoods of Arles, a city in southern France. Like his father and his brother Abou, he wanted to become a footballer and joined the local club when he was eight.

A determined youngster, Cissé began his sports studies at Nîmes and, at the age of 15, in 1996, he was spotted by the directors of AJ Auxerre. To persuade Nîmes to let go of the youngster, it was then Auxerre manager Guy Roux himself who pushed for his signature.

At Auxerre, Cissé discovered the reality of top-level sport, and in particular the physical aspect. Under the guidance of his new coach Guy Roux, with whom he forged a strong bond, he played his first Ligue 1 match on 20 March 1999.

However, the player had to wait until the 2001/02 season to really establish himself in the squad. Back after a year's absence, Guy Roux gave him a start on the opening day of the league against Rennes. The 20-year-old striker responded by scoring a quadruple and writing history.

He scored 22 goals in 29 games that season (joint top scorer in Ligue 1 with Pauleta) and helped Auxerre to a magnificent third place. He was even called up to the French national team for the first time.

Cissé was full of confidence and was called up for the 2002 World Cup, which was a real failure for the French, who were eliminated in the first round. To make matters worse, the player himself suffered a serious injury that year and only played a handful of matches.

Although he was rumoured to be on his way out, Cissé decided to stay with Auxerre for another season. During the 2003/04 campaign, he scored 26 goals in 38 Ligue 1 matches and won his second top scorer award.

At the end of 2003/04, he moved to Liverpool. After a difficult start to the season, he suffered a serious shin injury and returned in April 2005. That year, he won the Champions League by scoring the Reds's last penalty in the crazy final against AC Milan (3-3).

In 2006, he decided to leave England for Olympique de Marseille, on a loan move. Unfortunately, he got injured just before his arrival and was unavailable until December. After a difficult start, when he was booed by the fans, he scored a brace in the French Cup final and signed a five-year contract with the Phocéens.

His 2007/08 season was similar to the previous one, with a complicated start before he got back on track. However, he found himself in competition with the excellent Mamadou Niang, who was adored by the fans. Barred by Hatem Ben Arfa in 2008, he finally decided to return to England, to Sunderland.

Cissé scored 10 goals in 35 league games, but his performances did not meet expectations and Sunderland decided not to exercise the Frenchman's option to buy. He then left for Panathinaikos in Greece.

In two years at Panathinaikos, he scored 55 goals in 89 games and became a club legend. Adored by the fans, he won the league and cup double in 2010, before moving to Lazio in 2011.

He only spent six months in Italy, before returning to England with Queens Park Rangers, where his stint was marked by numerous suspensions and was a mixed one, with just ten goals in two years.

From 2013 onwards, the player played for a string of clubs, including Al-Gharafa, Krasnodar, Bastia, Yverdon and Panathinaikos Chicago. He finally put an end to his career in 2021 for the third time, before returning to futsal in 2022 with FC Borgo Futsal, in Corsica's R1 division.

Today, Djibril Cissé has returned to his first love: Auxerre. Appointed coach of the club's forwards in July 2023, he will try to lead them back to the top flight.

Over the years, Cissé has also nurtured another of his passions: DJing. He told Nofi Média: "I've always listened to music. My mother and father Mangué, who you know, listened to a lot of music. So I've always had music at home." In 2016, he was Mariah Carey's opening act at the Accor Arena in Paris.

For several years now, he has been performing in nightclubs from Abidjan to Paris, under the pseudonym DJ Tcheba. If you're going to a festival, be sure to check the line-up, because DJ Tcheba could well be playing.