| Tez Arne wrote: |
| So what's the story with Gael Clichy? |
Gael Clichy, born July 26, 1985 in Toulouse, is a French football player, who currently plays for
Arsenal of the English Premier League. He is
Arsenal's first-choice left back and can also play on the left-hand-side of midfield. 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 15 seconds it restarted and, thankfully, he recovered. Doctors described it as a "miracle" that Clichy survived. His mother had the resources to help him recover after years of experience in medical school as a nurse. 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 international Ashley Cole during his first three seasons at the club. His 12 appearances in the Premiership in
Arsenal's victorious 2003-04 season were enough to earn him a winners medal. In doing so, he 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 Clichy ironically 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
Champions League semi-final against Villarreal, 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 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 Cole's departure, Clichy made 27 league appearances in a total of 40, and has since become
Arsenal's first-choice left back. In the season 2007-2008, Clichy was selected in the PFA Team of the Year as left back. In 2007 he was called up for the French national squad. He was called up again in January 2008, for the French game against Spain, and the 5 February 2008 B friendly against Congo DR. Despite an excellent season with
Arsenal, Clichy was omitted form Raymond Domenech’s provisional Euro 2008 France squad.