Brazilian-born defender Rafael Schmitz joined Blues on a season-long loan from French club Lille in July 2007

The 26-year-old was granted dual nationality by the French government in May 2007

Schmitz was a regular in the French top flight in the previous three seasons and has also played in several Champions League games.

He was born in Blumenau and started his career at Malutrom SA where he gained some experience of Brazilian top-flight football and earned a move to Lille in 2001.

The defender initially struggled to adapt to his new surroundings and he started just 12 games in his first three seasons, eventually moving out on loan to Russian side FC Krylya Sovetov Samara.

But on his return to the Lille Metropole stadium, Schmitz grabbed his opportunity after Eric Abidal left to join Olympique Lyonnais and since 2004 he hasn't looked back.

He made 27 league appearances as Lille finished runners-up in the French top division in 2004/05 and also played five times in the UEFA Cup.

Schmitz scored his first goal for Lille at the end of that season against FC Nantes which helped to clinch the club's automatic qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

He played five Champions League games in 2005/06 in which the team kept four clean sheets, two against Manchester United including an historic 1-0 home win, but it still wasn't enough for Les Dogues to qualify and they dropped into the UEFA Cup where Schmitz played four more games as they went out in the last 16 to Seville.

Lille qualified for the Champions League again last season and they went through the group stages, with Schmitz playing five games, to meet Manchester United again in the knockout stages.

Unfortunately Schmitz missed the United matches as the Red Devils gained revenge with a two-legged success.

Schmitz has played a total of 99 top flight games for Lille, scoring two goals.