Gaël Clichy

Gaël Clichy (born July 26, 1985 in Toulouse) is a France football (soccer) player, who currently plays for Arsenal F.C. of the English Premier League. He is Arsenal's first-choice left back and can also play on the left-hand-side of midfield.

Biography

Signed by Arsène Wenger in the summer of 2003 from AS Cannes for £250,000, Clichy plays the position of left back for Arsenal, although he had to be content with playing understudy to England national football team international Ashley Cole during his first three seasons at the club.

His 12 appearances in the Premier League in Arsenal's victorious 2003-04 in English football season were enough to earn him a winners medal making him set the record for youngest winner of a Premiership champions medal.

After Ashley Cole suffered a fractured foot in October 2005, it seemed that Clichy would earn some valuable first-team action during Cole's time out; indeed, with rumours linking Cole with a transfer to Spain, it seemed that Clichy could make a strong case for continual first-team action. However, in a bizarre turn of events, Clichy suffered an injury identical to Cole's, leaving Arsenal with a crisis at the left-back position.

Clichy returned to first team action on April 25, 2006 in a UEFA Champions League semi-final against Villarreal CF, and came on as a substitute for the injured Mathieu Flamini. Clichy suffered a re-occurrence of his injury and missed the end of the season including the Champions League Final, and would not return to the first team until 14 October 2006.

When Cole left for Chelsea F.C. in August 2006, Clichy became the first choice left back at Arsenal. As Cole's understudy, Clichy made 62 appearances (including 39 in the league) for Arsenal in three seasons. In the season which followed, Clichy made 27 league appearances in a total of 40. Clichy has been slowly gaining his feet at Arsenal, recovering from a bad start in the 2006-2007 season to becoming one of Arsenal's best players.

Brush with death

In his early years, after climbing over a metal fence, a ring he was wearing got caught and tore his finger off. He had a seven-hour operation to sew it back on, but during the operation, his heart stopped beating due to a problem with his lungs. After 20 seconds it restarted and, thankfully, he recovered. Doctors described it as a "miracle" that Clichy survived.

Honours

Arsenal
- FA Premier League Winner: 2003–04
- FA Cup: 2004–05
- Champions League Runner-Up: 2005–06
- Emirates Cup Winner: 2007
- Amsterdam Tournament Winner: 2005, 2007

Arsenal career statistics

Footnotes