Yann Gérard M'Vila (born 29 June 1990) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Caen.

M'Vila made his senior debut on 11 August 2010 in a friendly against Norway, and was part of the French squad which reached the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2012.

In the final, Rennes faced Bordeaux and M'Vila was tasked with the objective of containing fellow French starlet Grégory Sertic.

[citation needed] Following the 2006–07 season, on 11 August 2007 M'Vila, alongside teammates Le Tallec and Camara, signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a three-year deal with Rennes.

[11] Following a successful international campaign with the France under-19 team, on 13 August 2009, new manager Frédéric Antonetti announced that M'Vila would be earning some significant playing time with the club for the 2009–10 season.

[16] After returning from suspension, M'Vila never lost his place within the team breaking the starting eleven in all the remaining league matches, save for one.

[17] On 18 December, in a 1–0 win over Valenciennes, M'Vila played the entire match completing 100 of his 112 attempted passes, the former statistical output being a league-high for the season.

[21][22] Coincidentally, he scored his first professional goal on 9 January 2011 in a 7–0 hammering of Championnat National club Cannes in the Coupe de France.

[28][29] M'Vila opened the 2011–12 season making his European debut in a UEFA Europa League third qualifying round first leg tie against Georgian club Metalurgi Rustavi on 28 July 2011.

[30] On 25 August, he scored his first and only goal of the campaign in a 4–0 second leg win over Serbian club Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League play-off round.

Despite consistently appearing with the team, as the season progressed, M'Vila was subjected to criticism from the club's supporters due to his under-performance as perceived by them.

The criticism culminated on 11 April 2012 following the midfielder's performance in Rennes' shock 2–1 defeat to semi-professional club Quevilly in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France.

[35] M'Vila went AWOL during the 2013–14 winter break, failing to join Rubin Kazan's training camp in Turkey and instead returning to France.

[37] On 15 July 2014, M'Vila joined Inter Milan on loan from Rubin Kazan until the end of the 2014–15 season with an option to purchase the player on a permanent basis.

[40] On 6 August 2015, M'Vila joined English Premier League side Sunderland on a season-long loan with a view to being made a permanent deal.

[43] On 25 October 2015, M'Vila was named the Premier League man of the match in Sunderland's 3–0 home victory over Newcastle United in the Tyne-Wear derby.

[44] After another man of the match performance in a 3–1 defeat at Arsenal on 5 December 2015, M'Vila was praised by teammate Ola Toivonen, who described him as "a top European player.

M'Vila was a fan favourite during his time in the North East, which caused an angry repost towards Sunderland club owner Ellis Short.

[48] M'Vila played his first game for Rubin in two years upon the return from loans on 22 September 2016 when he came on as a substitute in a Russian Cup matchup against Chita.

[49] Rubin manager Javi Gracia chose to play Alex Song over M'Vila at the defensive midfield position in all the league games up to that point.

In Rubin's next match, against Krylia Sovetov Samara on 15 October, M'Vila returned to the starting line-up, pushing Song to the bench.

[52] On 19 February 2024, English side West Bromwich Albion announced the signing of M'Vila until the end of the 2023–24 season, thus rejoining his former coach at Olympiacos, Carlos Corberán.

M'Vila began featuring as a regular international with the under-17 team making his debut on 5 December 2006 in a friendly match against the Czech Republic.

[citation needed] On 11 May, M'Vila was named to the 30-man preliminary list by Domenech to play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup but failed to make the final 23.

After starting in the team's UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in September 2010, he became the only player to feature as a starter in Blanc's first three matches as manager.

[79] M'Vila has earned critical acclaim for his playing style, which has led to coaches and players drawing comparisons to fellow French internationals Patrick Vieira and Claude Makélélé.

[79][80][81] Under manager Frédéric Antonetti at Rennes, despite playing as a defensive midfielder, M'Vila acts as the team's deep-lying playmaker and is often instrumental in building-up attacks from the back.

[79] His importance in the team was shown in Rennes' 1–0 league defeat to Toulouse during the 2011–12 season, in which the Bretagne side failed to produce anything offensively.

M'Vila, himself, declared that Rennes struggled because he was forced to play in a withdrawn role due to "the opponents being organized to close me down" and, as a result, he was "not in the drivers' seat".

[85] While M'Vila initially voiced his frustration at his lack of playing time under Lacombe, he has since stated he bears no ill feelings towards his former manager.