Stéphane Sparagna

Loan to Auxerre Following his lack of game time in the campaign before, Sparagna admitted during the off-season that he was considering a short term move away from Marseille in order to continue his development. He made his debut for the club in their opening Ligue 2 game on 30 July 2016, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 draw with Red Star. On 19 August, Sparagna was sent off in the 92nd minute of a 1–0 loss to Clermont for committing a second bookable offence. It was the first time in his career that he had been dismissed at senior club level. The Ligue 2 disciplinary committee later handed Sparagna a three-match ban for his indiscretions, included in which was a one-match suspended sentence. On 21 October, having set up Gaëtan Courtet for Auxerre's equaliser just minutes before, Sparagna netted the first own goal of his career in the 83rd minute of the match to hand Strasbourg a 2–1 win. He made 33 appearances across all competitions as Auxerre ended the Ligue 2 campaign in 17th position, one place above the relegation play-offs, before returning to Marseille at the end of the season.

Boavista On 19 June 2017, Sparagna signed a three-year contract with Portuguese club Boavista. It was reported that Marseille agreed to terminate Sparagna's contract prematurely in order for him to join Boavista, with the condition that they receive a percentage of any fee received by the Portuguese club for his future sale. He made his debut for the club on 27 August, starting in a 1–0 win over Desportivo Aves which saw Boavista register their first win of the season. He ultimately made 23 appearances for the campaign before his season was cut short by a knee injury which required him to undergo surgery in Marseille.

A spate of injuries sidelined Sparagna for large parts of the first half of the following season and, by the turn of the year, he had made only three league appearances. He made his long-awaited return, and only other appearance for the season, on 19 April 2019 but scored an own goal to consign Boavista to a 1–0 defeat to Tondela. That proved to be his final appearance for the club as in January 2020, having not been registered by Boavista for the 2019–20 Primeira Liga campaign, he was allowed to leave the club on a free transfer.

Vilafranquense On 19 January 2020, having not played a single game during the first half of the campaign, Sparagna completed a free transfer to LigaPro side Vilafranquense where he signed a six-month deal, with the option of a further year. He scored his first professional club goal in March when he netted for his side in a 3–2 win over Porto B, snapping a three-match winless run for Vilafranquense in the process.

Red Star On 24 August 2021, Sparagna returned to France and signed with Red Star in the Championnat National, the third-tier of French football.

International career

Youth teams

On 7 June 2015, Sparagna captained the France U20 squad to victory in the 2015 edition of the annual Toulon Tournament, scoring the winning goal from a Romain Habran corner in the final against Morocco. In doing so, he led France to their first victory in the tournament since 2008. Prior to scoring in the final, Sparagna had also netted from a free-kick in a 3–1 win over the United States in the tournament's opening game. Following his success at U20 level, he was awarded his debut for France U21 on 15 November 2015 but was sent off for two bookable offences in a 2–2 draw with Macedonia.

Style of play In the early years of his career, Sparagna was described as an athletic and combative centre-back, with his uncompromising approach to tackling drawing comparisons to the likes of Sergio Ramos and Thiago Silva.

Personal life On 10 May 2016, Sparagna took part in the second edition of the Marseille Live Poker Tournament, a tournament hosted by the club and broadcast in conjunction with online Poker company, Winamax. He finished the tournament in 19th position, the highest of any of the Marseille players who took part.

Career statistics

Honours Marseille Coupe de France runner-up: 2015–16

France U20 Toulon Tournament: 2015