Player #833 for Aston Villa, Jean II Makoun played as a midfielder for the club in 2010-11 and 2011-12 making 10 appearances.

Makoun was born in Yaoundé, Cameroon on 29 May 1983 and was signed by Gérard Houllier for £5,580,000 from Olympique Lyonnais on 15 January 2011 aged 27.

Houllier handed Makoun his debut on Tuesday, 25 January 2011 in the away win at Wigan Athletic before sitting out the subsequent FA Cup tie on Saturday, 29 January 2011.

Houllier recalled Makoun for the Premier League fixture on Tuesday, 1 February 2011 and he made three consecutive appearances as Villa recorded 2 draws and a defeat with Makoun receiving a red card in the 70’ of the away draw at Blackpool.

A three game ban ensued.

Following his suspension Houllier reinstated Makoun to first team duty and three consecutive starts once again followed bringing one loss, one draw and one win.

That win, coming on Sunday, 10 April 2011, would be Makoun’s final appearance of the season and final appearance under Houllier as Alex McLeish was brought in for the 2011-12 campaign.

McLeish, like most observers, was less than impressed with Makoun and after 2 appearances in a meaningless pre-season tournament (which for some apparent reason was recognised as constituting formal first team matches by the Premier League) and a start as Villa struggled to beat lower league Hereford United in the League Cup, Makoun’s Villa career was over.

Following that final appearance for Villa on Tuesday, 23 August 2011, McLeish shipped Makoun out on loan to Olympiacos for the remainder of the 2011-12 season before his replacement Paul Lambert did the same and sent Makoun on loan to Stade Rennais FC for 2012-13.

6 Premier League appearances, 1 win, £5,580,000, 2 season long loans and finally a permanent move away to Stade Rennais in July 2013 for a fee of £2,700,000 aged 30.

If any player encapsulated the mistakes of Houllier’s appointment it was Makoun.