Gael Clichy

At 38 years old, Gael Clichy has this physical status:

Gaël Dimitri Clichy (born 26 July 1985) is a French professional footballer who plays for Swiss Super League club Servette. He primarily plays as a left-back, being also capable of playing as an offensive-minded wing-back. He is predominantly left footed, but naturally right footed. Earlier in his career, he was described as a player who possesses "almost unrivaled stamina" that is "quick in the tackle and willing to drive forward".

Clichy was born in the city of Toulouse and began his football career playing for a host of amateur clubs in the Haute-Garonne département such as JS Cugnaux, AS Muret, and Tournefeuille. In 2001, he moved to the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region to play for professional club Cannes. Clichy made his professional debut for the club in the 2002–03 season while the club was playing in the Championnat National, the third level of French football. After three seasons with Cannes, in 2003, he was convinced by manager and countryman Arsène Wenger to join Arsenal in England.

In Clichy's first season with the club, he was a member of the squad, dubbed the Invincibles, that went undefeated in the league season. As a result of the title, at 18 years and 10 months, Clichy became the youngest player to win a Premier League medal. After three seasons of backing up Ashley Cole, in the 2006–07 season, Clichy took over the starters' role permanently. In the 2007–08 season, he appeared in all 38 league matches. His performances during the season earned him an appearance on the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Team of the Year. Aside from the 2003–04 league title, he has also won the 2004 FA Community Shield in with Arsenal. Clichy moved on in 2011 to more success with Manchester City, adding two more Premier League titles (2011–12 and 2013–14) and two League Cups (2014 and 2016). He left England after 14 years for Turkish side İstanbul Başakşehir in 2017, with whom he won the national league in 2020.

Clichy is a former French youth international and has represented his nation at every level for which he was eligible. Prior to playing for the senior team, he played on the under-17 team that finished runners-up to Switzerland at the 2002 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. Clichy made his senior international debut in September 2008 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Serbia. He made his first major international tournament appearance for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Clichy made one appearance in the competition against South Africa in the final group stage match. He additionally featured in the UEFA Euro 2012 squad, before making his last international appearance in 2013.

Early life

Clichy was born and raised in Toulouse, in southwestern France. His mother, Jacqueline, is a medical nurse, while his father, Claude, was an educator in the city. While Clichy was beginning his football career, his father often served as a part-time coach and referee. At the age of 15 while playing for Cannes, Clichy nearly died. After climbing over a metal fence while crossing a ground at the club's facility, a ring he was wearing got caught in the fence, which resulted in the skin and tissue from the fourth finger of his right hand being completely torn off. During the seven-hour operation to repair the finger, Clichy's heart stopped beating due to a problem with his lungs. It restarted after 15 seconds. The doctor who led the operation described Clichy's survival as "a miracle", while the player himself admitted that the ordeal changed his attitude towards life stating "It made me realise that life can go quick. You could leave tomorrow so you have to enjoy it to the maximum so you don't regret anything the next day. You can look forward to the future but not too far ahead".

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Club career

Clichy began playing for his hometown club, AS Hersoise, at the age of five. He started out as a right-footed player, but Clichy's left foot soon became his primary, thanks to intensive training from his father. During a regional youth cup match, which his father was refereeing, one of the many instances of his father's coaching came. Clichy's younger brother was told by his father that if he scored a goal with his right foot, he would ban it. Clichy continued his left foot "to the point where he eventually forgot his right foot." Clichy's five-year association, JS Cugnaux, a local team based in nearby Cugnaux, joined JS Cugnaux, a local club based in nearby Cugnaux. He spent only one year with the club before heading to AS Muret.

Clichy joined AS Tournefeuille in 1998 and began attending secondary at Collège Leonardo da Vinci. During his time at Tournefeuille, he was chosen to attend Pôle Espoirs de Castelmaurou, a regional academy in the Midi-Pyrénées region that introduced players similar to the Clairefontaine academy in Île-de-France. Clichy spent three years at the center, including weekends and working with Tournefeuille. Clichy was linked to a number of professional clubs, including Auxerre, Bordeaux, and Toulouse, who were looking for his services in 2000, after being active at both Tournefeuille and Castelmaurou. The young player opted to play for professional team Cannes in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.

Clichy arrived in Cannes in 2000 while the club was playing in Ligue 2, France's second division. Clichy spent the majority of his time with the club as a central midfielder, and former French national and Saint-Étienne player Christian Lopez supervised him. Julien Faubert began his playing time with the club in the youth academy. Clichy spent time on the club's reserve team in the Championnat de France amateur 2, the fifth level of French football, during the latter part of the 2001–02 season. He was promoted to the senior team on a permanent basis by Lopez, who was still managing the team in the third level of French football, in the following season. Following Lopez's dismissal, Clichy played in 15 games with the team assisting on two goals, most importantly, Clichy appeared under Robert Buigues.

When Clichy first arrived in Cannes at the age of 16, Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger noticed his talent. Wenger phoned Clichy in an effort to sign the player following the 2002–03 season. In June 2003, Arsenal boss Leo Varadkar visited the Clichy household in Tournefeuille and gave him a professional deal with the club. Wenger told Clichy, "You'll play," which was enough to persuade both the player and his family.

Clichy's senior team's season began on the club's senior staff primarily as the backup to England international Ashley Cole, as Wenger had predicted. In a League Cup match with Rotherham United, he made his club debut on October 28, 2003 alongside fellow debutant Cesc Fàbregas. Arsenal beat Arsenal on penalties, with Clichy converting his spot kick. Clichy defeated Birmingham City 3–0 on Sunday in his first appearance in the league on November 22nd. Clichy played in nine straight matches after a traumatic injury to Cole in December; six of whom were as a starter. In the first leg of the team's 3–2 knockout round victory over Spanish club Celta de Vigo on February 24, he made his UEFA Champions League debut. Clichy came to a close in seven more games during the campaign. He appeared as a substitute in Arsenal's 1–0 league victory over Fulham on May 9, 2004. Clichy was on the bench for the team's final league match of the season last week, defeating Leicester City 2–1. Arsenal won a unbeaten league season, resulting in the club's second first division team in English football history to finish the season undefeated in the second season. Clichy became the youngest player to win a Premier League medal at 18 years and ten months as a result of the season.

For the 2004–05 season, Clichy was ranked second-choice to Cole. For FA Cup matches, Wenger chose the young defender as the first-choice. Clichy started as a starter for every round until Arsenal was knocked out of the semi-finals by Cole. The club secured the tournament on penalties, defeating Manchester United 5–4 to earn Clichy his first domestic cup title. Clichy appeared in 15 games, seven as a starter in the Premier League. He made only two appearances in the UEFA Champions League: a 5–1 group stage win over Norwegian club Rosenborg and a 3–1 loss to German outfit Bayern Munich. Clichy's season ended prematurely in April due to a recurring foot injury.

After Cole suffered a fractured foot in October 2005, he was given a chance to make a regular place in the starting lineup in the 2005–06 season. The injury seemed to indicate that Clichy would have some valuable first-team action during Cole's time out, but Clichy sustained a similar injury in November, ruled out for four months. In a Champions League semi-final match against Spanish side Villarreal on April 25, he returned to the team on Friday as a back-up for the injured Mathieu Flamini. Clichy was found not to have committed a foul in the box on striker José Mari, resulting in a penalty taken by Juan Román Riquelme that was saved by Jens Lehmann. If Riquelme had converted, the game would have taken place at extra time. Clichy sustained a re-occurrence of his foot injury while playing in a 3–0 win over Sunderland in the league the following week. The player's withdrawal from the 2006 Champions League final resulted in him missing the tournament and ending up on the bench for the entire match. Arsenal lost the match 2–1 to Barcelona.

Clichy had a difficult time recovering his foot injury in the offseason of 2006. Wenger was forced to intervene on the recovery process because the player was so agitated about it. Dr. Mark Myerson, an orthopaedic and medical director at the Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland, was later recommended to Clichy by Wenger. Clichy returned to Myerson in June 2006 and was forced to have another operation. The player was forced to miss the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, as well as three months of domestic football with Arsenal. Cole departed the club in August 2006 for Chelsea, a transfer that enabled Clichy to take over as the permanent starter. Clichy made 24 league appearances for Arsenal and 57 overall in three seasons as Cole's understudy.

In a 3–0 league win over Watford as a replacement, Clichy returned to the team on October 14th, 2006. In a League Cup victory over West Brom, he returned to the starting lineup ten days later and played the entire match. Clichy was then used as a starter in the next 19 matches. Clichy scored in a 2–1 victory over Reading on 3 March 3, 2007, assisting with the game-winning goal scored by Jlio Baptista.

Clichy had arguably the best season of his career in 2007-08. He appeared in a career-high and team-best 49 games, and was the only player in the team to play in all 38 league matches. Clichy also had a career high in assists, six of whom were credited to back-to-back league victories over Everton and West Ham in December and January. He assisted in two goals in Derby County's 6–2 hammering on April 28, 2008. Clichy was named to the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Team of the Year by the year's performance, alongside teammates Bacary Sagna, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Fàbregas. In addition, he came in second in the Arsenal fan poll for the club's Player of the Season. Arsenal, for the third straight season, was unable to win any trophies despite the stellar individual season. Arsenal gave Clichy with a two-year contract extension until June 2012.

Clichy captained the team for the first time in Arsenal's 2–1 victory over Barnet during the pre-season campaign into the 2008–09 season. Despite the emergence of youngster Kieran Gibbs, he remained a fixture within the starting eleven throughout the season. Clichy scored his first professional goal in a 2–1 loss to Stoke City on November 1, 2008. Clichy began missing games due to an unspecified injury after being on the team for the majority of the season. The defender had been sidelined for several weeks before being forced to miss the remainder of the 2008-09 season due to a back injury. Clichy's back injury relapsed after it was revealed that the player sustained a stress fracture in the lower back in the team's 3–0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, which was similar to his foot injury three years ago. Despite being banned from work for a month, Clichy continued for ten weeks and returned to the team in January 2010. He appeared in all of the club's remaining games, with the exception of one.

For the first time, a healthy Clichy began the 2010–11 campaign as the starting left-back both nationally and internationally. Alex Song's only goal scored by him in the team's league victory over West Ham on October 30th. In the team's 5–0 win over Leyton Orient in a FA Cup replay tie, Clichy scored his second career goal on March 2nd. Altogether Clichy played for Arsenal and scored twice.

Manchester City completed the transfer of Clichy from Arsenal for an undisclosed fee, expected to be around £7 million on a four-year contract, on July 4, 2011. Clichy made his first appearance on the club's US Tour for the first time. He made his first competitive appearance against Manchester United in the 2011 FA Community Shield and his first Premier League appearance against Swansea City. He was suspended after a league match against Chelsea for picking up his second yellow card for a challenge on Ramires. Since starting the season as backup to Aleksandar Kolarov, Clichy established himself as the first choice left-back. Clichy played the full 90 minutes against Queens Park Rangers at the City of Manchester Stadium on May 13, 2012, his 37th appearance of the campaign that eventually cost City the Premier League season, although rivals Manchester United lost the match. Since winning the other one with Arsenal following an Invincible 2003–04 season, Clichy won his second Premier League champion's medal of his career.

After committing a long-term contract to hold him at the Etihad until 2017, Clichy agreed to a new four-year contract with City in May 2013. "I'm really happy to have signed a new contract with City, and I'm looking forward to the new season," Clichy said. "Things didn't go the way we expected them to this year this year, but we'll come back stronger next season and learn from this experience." Clichy claimed another Premier League champion's medal in May 2014 as Manchester City fended off Liverpool's attempt to regain the Premier League crown on the final day of the season. In a 0–3 victory over Southampton FC at St Mary's Stadium on November 30, Clichy scored his first goal for Manchester City in a 0–3 victory.

Clichy will leave the team on May 25, 2017, Manchester City announced on May 25th.

Clichy had passed the medical examination earlier that day, after which he signed a three-year deal to play for the Turkish club, according to stanbul Başakşehir.

Clichy played a key role in Başakşehir's victory over Kayserispor on the club's first day of the season on July 19, 2020, providing the assist for the game's only goal.

Clichy joined Servette of the Swiss Super League on a free transfer and an 18-month deal on December 2, 2020.

International career

Clichy has earned caps with all of France's youth teams for which he was eligible. He was a late starter at the under-15 level under coach Luc Rabat. In a 3–0 friendly victory over Italy on March 13, 2001, Clichy made his youth international debut. He stayed with the team for the remainder of the season, playing in three matches at the Montaigu Tournament, which France defeated in 2001. At an international tournament in Salerno, Italy, Clichy appeared in all three matches. Clichy played in ten games under the age of 17 as France tried to qualify for the 2002 European Under-17 Football Championship in Dublin, France. He made his team debut on September 19, 2001 in the team's opening league match of the season, defeating Yugoslavia 1–0. Clichy appeared in two of the three qualifying matches in qualifying for the UEFA-sanctioned tournament. He appeared in all six matches as the starting left-back in the tournament. France advanced to the final but were defeated by a tenacious Switzerland led by former Arsenal teammate Philippe Senderos.

Clichy's time with the under-18 team in Cannes, France, was uneventful, with only three matches appearing. When the team was trying to qualify for the 2004 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, he rejoined the team as a regular for under-19 service. After finishing third in the first qualifying round, France was surprisingly disqualified in qualifying. France has only participated in three more matches since the team's dismissal. Clichy lost in the last two matches against Ukraine. Following the team's failure to qualify for the 2004 European Under-21 Football Championship against Belgium, he earned his first call up to the under-21 team under new coach Raymond Domenech in the team's first match. Despite being a starter early in the team's victory over at the 2004 Toulon Tournament, Clichy's winning left-back slot was lost to Lyon prospect Jérémy Berthod. His last game with the team came on November 15, 2005, in the team's first leg playoff round match against England, which determined which team would qualify for a spot in the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Clichy began the first leg but was forced to leave Berthod at halftime. On aggregate, France defeated England 3–2 to claim a place in the tournament. However, Clichy missed the tournament due to his fractured foot injury while playing with Arsenal.

For the first time in the team's February 2008 match against Spain, Clichy was called up to the senior national team. However, he later played for the B team in its friendly match against the Congo DR, which took place the day before the Spain friendly. Clichy earned his first cap against Serbia on September 10, 2008, after receiving multiple call ups in 2008. He appeared as a starter in 3–1 victories over Tunisia and Austria in the former match being a friendly, with the latter being a World Cup qualifier. Clichy did not appear in France internationally in the next year and a half. Despite this, he was selected in Domenech's 30-man preliminary team to participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Clichy was later selected in the 23-man team to replace incumbent starter Patrice Evra as the back-up for the injured starter. France suffered a disastrous campaign during the match as the players went on strike in reaction to the team's displeasure over the expulsion of striker Nicolas Anelka from the team. Clichy was introduced as a starter and played the entire match against South Africa in the team's final group stage match against hosts South Africa, with several veteran players out of the squad being ruled out of the team. Clichy, Clichy, and 22 other players of the team were suspended from the team's friendly match against Norway as a result of the players' mutiny.

Laurent Blanc, the current national team manager, had Clichy as the starter after his five-match suspension of Evra. Clichy was chastised for his defense after his first match since the World Cup against Belarus; instead, he was disqualified from contributing the goal for the only goal of the match. Despite the setback, Clichy remained first-choice and was included in the team's next three matches. Eric Abidal was barred in November 2010 after Clichy was postponed in favour of Eric Abidal. Following Abidal's diagnosis of a tumor in his liver, Evra returned to the team and was given the starting position in his first match back. Clichy confessed to being dissatisfied by the decision, but respected the manager's choice. In June 2012, he was selected in the 23-man France squad and issued the number 22 shirt to compete at UEFA Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine as a replacement for Evra. He appeared in both group matches against Ukraine and Sweden, as well as the 2–0 loss against Spain in the quarter finals.

Career statistics

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