Louis Saha was a former scholar at the Clairefontaine football academy, he began his career at Metz before playing on loan at Newcastle United.

[13][4] Saha made his Metz debut on 8 August 1997, coming on as a late substitute against Bordeaux and scored the club's fourth goal of the game, in a 4–1 win.

[20] At the conclusion of the 1998–99 season, Saha returned to Metz, where he made an impact, scoring seven goals for the 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup, against MŠK Žilina, Lokeren, Polonia Warsaw and West Ham United.

[23] Despite being in a goal scoring form, Saha revealed that the club wanted him to "take on a lot more defensive duties", something that made him consider quitting football.

[27] Since making his debut, Saha quickly established himself in the first team, becoming the club's first-choice striker and along with John Collins and Lee Clark.

[38] Saha continued to regain his first team place as the club's first choice striker, forming a partnership with Barry Hayles throughout the 2001–02 season.

[citation needed] At the start of the 2002–03 season, Saha appeared in every match of the UEFA Intertoto Cup, scoring once against Egaleo in the third round on 20 July 2002.

[61] It came after when his performance at Fulham's victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in October 2003[62] was thought to be influential in persuading Alex Ferguson to sign him in 2004.

[citation needed] Saha was transferred to Manchester United for a fee of £12.4 million in 2004 having scored 15 goals so far that season and impressing Alex Ferguson in Fulham's 3–1 win at Old Trafford.

[66] A month later, however, Metz brought a case to FIFA (and later Court of Arbitration for Sport) arguing that they were entitled to a share of Saha's transfer fee from Fulham.

[citation needed] Saha was chosen by Ferguson to partner alongside Rooney for the next season, after Van Nistelrooy's exit for Real Madrid during the summer transfer window.

[101] He returned as substitute at Roma but then picked up a knee injury and was therefore absent for United's 1–0 extra-time loss to Chelsea in the FA Cup final.

[106] He then started in a match against Sunderland on Boxing Day, and scored twice including a penalty, winning 2–0 to lift Manchester United to 1st position in the Premier League.

[107] After being sidelined with a knee injury that kept him out for a month, Saha made his return in an FA Cup clash versus Arsenal on 16 February 2008, winning 4–0.

[115] Saha made his Everton debut on 22 September coming on as a substitute in a league game away to Hull City,[116] before scoring his first goal against his former club Fulham, at Goodison Park on 1 November.

[122] A week later on 8 March 2009, he came off the bench at half-time in that season's FA Cup quarter-final against Middlesbrough, scoring the winner and helping Everton reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1995.

[126] It was also the fastest goal in any match at the new Wembley Stadium, beating the previous record by Giampaolo Pazzini in March 2007 in an under-21 international for Italy.

[129] His goalscoring form continued for the next two months, scoring a goal against both Wigan Athletic and Portsmouth, as well as braces against Sigma Olomouc and Blackburn Rovers.

[136] At the start of the 2010–11 season, Saha continued to retain his first team place for the first four matches, scoring his first goal in a 5–1 win against Huddersfield Town in the second round of the League Cup.

[142] Saha scored again for Everton against Fulham on 19 March 2011 with a low right footed drive from a free kick, he was later stretchered off with an ankle injury and remained sidelined for the remainder of the season.

[citation needed] Saha made his return for the 2011–12 season on 30 July 2011 in a pre-season fixture against the recently relegated Birmingham City at St Andrews.

[154] He scored his fourth goal, in all competitions, for the club against Bolton Wanderers to make it 3–1 to Tottenham with the last kick of the game to send his side through to the FA Cup semi-finals against London rivals Chelsea.

[155] Following his successful short spell with Tottenham, Saha reported that he was desperate to seal a long term deal at White Hart Lane, citing Harry Redknapp as a big factor in his upturn in form.

[169] Following his retirement from professional football, Saha created a private network for pro athletes and entertainers called AxisStars.

[11][170][171] In December 2015, Saha said he would be suing a UK bank after it was revealed that a botched investment scheme resulted in him losing "around six figures.

[181] He made his first appearance for the national side in almost a year, starting a match against Denmark on 31 May 2006 and set up France's first goal of the game, in a 2–0 win.

[184] After the end of the World Cup tournament, Saha was called up to the France squad for the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and started in a 2–1 win.

[187] Saha was named in the squad picked for the Euro 2012 qualifiers, which also included goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, Chelsea's Florent Malouda and nine other players who took part in France's disappointing 2010 World Cup campaign.

[9][188] Prior to this, he had not played for his national side since November 2006 (although he was called up by Raymond Domenech in February 2010, he withdrew from the squad due to injury).

[11][171][173] In February 2011, Saha escaped unhurt after his car collided with a fence on Altrincham Road, at the entrance to the tunnels that run under the runways of Manchester Airport.