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Defender Sylvain joined Everton from Portsmouth for an undisclosed fee in August 2009.

Briefly Club captain at Fratton Park, the Frenchman, who penned a three-year deal with the Blues, brings a wealth of experience, having also played for Paris St Germain, Newcastle United and Manchester City.

The 6ft 4ins defender began his career in his homeland playing non-league football with Joué-lès-Tours. His form earned him a switch to Tours and later Ligue 2 outift Gueugnon before PSG swooped for his services in 2000.

But he spent just one season at Parc des Princes before moving to the Premier League to join Newcastle on loan. 

The Magpies reportedly made a bid to make the deal permanent but Distin instead opted to join Manchester City in a £4million deal – a then club record for a defender.

His performances with the Citizens earned him the club's Player of the Year accolade at the end of the 2002/03 season and following the retirement of popular Algerian midfielder Ali Bernarbia, he was made captain.

Sylvain went on to make 207 appearances for City before joining Portsmouth when his contract expired in the summer of 2007.

A stalwart for the south coast side, he helped them to FA Cup glory in 2008 and later succeeded Sol Campbell as captain.

Everton's third major capture of the summer, Sylvain arrived amid media speculation he was a target for Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa, following on-loan striker Jo and Russian international midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov into Goodison Park.

He quickly became a fixture the centre of defence, scoring at Goodison against AEK Athens in September.

Distin played 38 times in all competitions for the Blues scoring twice, with both goals coming in Europe.

He remained the model of consistency in 2010/11, also popping up with vital goals against Liverpool and former club Man City.

The Frenchman continued in much the same vein throughout the 2011/12 campaign and was a near ever-present as the Blues reached Wembley and recorded a seventh-place league finish.

Due to an injury to Leighton Baines, Distin even deputised for his colleague at left-back for several games in the final weeks of the season.

Distin remained a defensive rock during 2012/13 with his importance to the squad underlined by his January signing of a new contract until 2014.

Contracted until: June 2014.