Gelson Fernandes

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Gelson Fernandes

Gelson Fernandes
Personal information
Full nameGelson Tavares Fernandes[1]
Date of birth (1986-09-02) 2 September 1986
Place of birthPraia, Cape Verde
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing positionDefensive Midfielder
Club information
Current clubSC Freiburg
Number4
Youth career
1995–2004FC Sion
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2005–2007FC Sion56(1)
2007–2009Manchester City43(3)
2009–2012Saint-Étienne33(0)
2010–2011→ ChievoVerona (loan)29(2)
2011–2012→ Leicester City (loan)15(1)
2012→ Udinese (loan)16(1)
2012–2013Sporting CP6(0)
2013→ FC Sion (loan)14(0)
2013–SC Freiburg16(1)
National team‡
2005–2007Switzerland U219(0)
2007–Switzerland43(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 December 2013.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 October 2013

Gelson Tavares Fernandes (born 2 September 1986 in Praia) is a Swiss footballer[2] who currently plays as a defensive midfielder for SC Freiburg. He also plays for the Swiss national team.

Club career

Sion

Fernandes started his football career at FC Sion and was promoted to the first team in 2004 after being called by manager Gilbert Gress. The 2005–06 season proved to be the breakout year for Fernandes as he got more playing time for Sion. He played in central midfielder position for Sion. On 23 July 2005, Fernandes made his professional league debut for Sion in a 2–1 loss against Lausanne. In his first season, Fernandes made 22 league appearance and scoring none. In the 2006–07 season, Fernandes was able to get more playing time when he made 35 league appearances for Sion. In the first round of the UEFA Cup, Fernandes made his European Cup debut for Sion in a 0–0 draw against Bayer Leverkusen and in the second round of UEFA Cup, Fernandes scored his first professional league goal and first European Cup goal against Leverkusen which Sion lost 3–1 on aggregate. On 14 October 2006, Fernandes scored his first league goal for Sion in a 1–1 draw against Luzern. Fernandes also led his team win the Swiss Cup in a penalty shootout (5–3) against Young Boys. In the final game of the league 2006–07 season, Fernandes received a second bookable offense on a 90th minutes after receiving a yellow card in a first half which turns out to be Fernandes last appearance for Sion as Sion won 3–0 against St. Gallen.

Manchester City

Fernandes in the Leicester City Shirt.

Fernandes signed for Manchester City from Sion on 14 July 2007 for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around €6 million (£4.2 million), which would make his sale the second highest transfer in the history of the Swiss League.[citation needed] Following his signing, Sven-Göran Eriksson commented that he thought Fernandes was the "best young player in Switzerland."[3] He made his debut in the 0–0 draw against Portsmouth.

On 10 October 2007, Fernandes made his Manchester City debut after coming on for Elano in the 89th minute in a 1–0 victory over Birmingham City. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 victory against Newcastle United on 2 January 2008, after coming on as a substitute for Stephen Ireland. It took just 40 seconds for Fernandes and Kelvin Etuhu to combine for the former to finish from the edge of the box. Fernandes scored his second goal in the 1–3 loss to Arsenal at the City of Manchester Stadium. Vedran Ćorluka took advantage of a Gaël Clichy defensive error, who slipped in a pass into the six-yard box for Fernandes to tuck home. The goal was not enough to secure any points for Manchester City, but showed the City fans that he was also capable of having an eye for goal like fellow youth midfielder, Michael Johnson.

At the start of the 2008–09 season, Fernandes had his number changed from number 28 to number 19. The number 28 shirt was taken by Daniel Sturridge. Fernandes had since scored twice in the 2008–09 season with goals against Brighton & Hove Albion and the final goal in the 6–0 win against Portsmouth. He made 59 appearances for City, scoring four times, but was increasingly used as a substitute after Mark Hughes took over as manager.

Saint-Étienne

On 9 July 2009, Fernandes moved on trial to Saint-Étienne. He passed a medical to complete a £2 million move to Saint-Étienne.[4] He signed a two-year contract[5] and moved on an undisclosed fee.[6] He made his league debut on 8 August 2009 in a 0–2 loss to Nice. His time at Saint Etienne had a difficult start and he moved little-by-little in the middle with some fighting and a good state of mind without being convincing. Fernandes went on to make 33 appearance for Saint-Étienne in his first season. His relationship with Christophe Galtier (the manager who signed him from Manchester City) was deemed undesirable and did not fit into the plans for Galtier. Although returning from loan, Galtier allowed Fernandes to leave the club, only for loan.[7]

Chievo Verona

On 30 August 2010, it was announced that Fernandes would be going out on loan with an option to purchase to Chievo Verona.[8] Fernandes made his debut for Chievo in a 3–1 win over Genoa on 12 September 2010. He scored his first goal for Chievo 3–1 win over Napoli on 22 September 2010. On 31 October 2010, Fernandes received a red card after a second bookable offense against Parma. Fernandes went to make 29 appearances and scoring two goals for Chievo. At end of the 2010–11 season, Chievo Verona decided against signing Fernandes on a permanent basis.[9]

Leicester City

On 4 August 2011, Championship club Leicester City signed Fernandes on a season long loan, subject to international clearance.[10] Fernandes was signed by Sven-Göran Eriksson who signed him at Manchester City. Following his move to England on loan, Fernandes revealed he was told that his move will become permanent if he helps the Leicester City gain promotion to the Premier League.[11] He made his debut for the club in a 1–0 away win over Coventry City on 6 August 2011,[12] scoring his first goal in a 2–2 draw against Nottingham Forest on 20 August.[13] Following Eriksson's sacking due to poor result, Nigel Pearson was appointed manager Leicester City again. Fernandes did not play under Pearson until on 3 December 2011 and made his last appearance for Leicester City in a 2–1 loss against Hull City.[14] On 30 December 2011, Fernandes asked for his loan contract at Leicester City to be terminated and to return to France.[15] Six days later on 4 January, it was announced that Fernandes's loan deal with Leicester had been cancelled by mutual consent.

Udinese

Fernandes after the match against Cardiff City on 25 September 2011.

After his loan deal at Leicester City ended, he was then sent out for another loan deal, this time he signed for current Serie A frontrunners Udinese until the end of the season to strengthen the squad after some of the players went to play at the African Cup of Nations. So Udinese wanted a player who could acclimatise quickly.[16] On 22 January 2012, Fernandes made his Udinese debut in a 2–1 win over Catania in the Coppa Italia.

Sporting Clube de Portugal

On 4 July 2012, Fernandes signed a four-year contract with Sporting Clube de Portugal, with a €25 million buy-out clause.[17]

After his loan ended at Sion, Fernandes was among with many players to be sold.[18]

Return to Sion

On 21 December 2012, it was confirmed that he returned to Sion.[19] He signed a loan until the end of the 2013–14 season with an option to sign him at the end of the loan. He hoped to settle down for a longer time at one club, as this would be his longest stay at one team since his time at Manchester. At the end of the 2013-14 season, his options to join the club permanently has ended after the club have to pay the price to sign Fernandes.[20]

SC Freiburg

In June 2013, he signed with Bundesliga side SC Freiburg on long-term contract, with a fee of €500K[21]

International career

Fernandes was captain of the Switzerland U-21 that played against the England U-21 side in their Euro 2007 qualifying match.

He made his first full international appearance for Switzerland against the Netherlands on 22 August 2007. He has since continued to be a regular for Switzerland, playing in their friendly defeat to England at Wembley in February 2008. He also played in all three of the Swiss side's Euro 2008 fixtures. On 28 March 2009, Fernandes scored his first goal for Switzerland, heading in a corner to seal a 2–0 win against Moldova. He scored his first 2010 World Cup goal for Switzerland against Spain on 16 June 2010, which Switzerland went on to win 1–0.[22] After this, he was considered as a national hero in Switzerland. Unfortunately, Switzerland did not advance to the Round of 16 and Spain went on to win the World Cup.

International goals

Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
128 March 2009Zimbru Stadium, Chişinău, Moldova Moldova 0–2 0–2 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
216 June 2010Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, South Africa Spain 0–1 0–1 2010 FIFA World Cup

Personal life

Fernandes arrived in Switzerland with his mother at the age of five from the Cape Verde islands, the family settling in Sion, as his father works for the Football Club FC Sion as a groundkeeper.[23]

He natively speaks Portuguese, the official language of his birthplace, Cape Verde, and according to former Manchester City teammate Micah Richards, he is fluent in five other languages:[24] English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. He is the cousin of Portuguese footballer Manuel Fernandes and the Swiss footballer Cabral.[25]

Fernandes is married and has a daughter.[26]

Honours

FC Sion

References

  1. ↑ "List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  2. ↑ "Gelson Fernandes". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 29 June 2013. 
  3. ↑ "Man City seal Fernandes transfer". BBC Sport. 14 July 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2013. 
  4. ↑ "Gelson Fernandes zu ASSE" (in German). transfermarkt.de. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2013. 
  5. ↑ "Gelson zu Saint-Étienne!" (in German). blick.ch. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2013. 
  6. ↑ "G. Fernandes zu St. Etienne" (in German). transfermarkt.de. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2013. 
  7. ↑ "Gelson quitterait Sainté" [Gelson leave Sainté] (in French). L'Equipe. 28 August 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2013. 
  8. ↑ Scime, Adam (30 August 2010). "Official: Chievo Verona Sign Gelson Fernandes On Loan From Saint-Etienne". goal.com. Retrieved 29 June 2013. 
  9. ↑ "Chievo, non-riscattato lo svizzero Gelson Fernandes?" (in Italian). Calcionnews24. 11 June 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2012. 
  10. ↑ "Leicester City sign midfielder Gelson Fernandes on loan". BBC. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011. 
  11. ↑ Casey, Jamie (5 August 2011). "Fernandes wants permanent deal". Sky Sports. Retrieved 11 February 2012. 
  12. ↑ "Coventry 0 - 1 Leicester". BBC Sport. 6 August 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011. 
  13. ↑ "Nott'm Forest 2 - 2 Leicester". BBC Sport. 20 August 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011. 
  14. ↑ "Hull City 2 - 1 Leicester City". Leicester City Official Website. 3 December 2011. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2012. 
  15. ↑ "Fernandes asks for Foxes exit". Sky Sports. 30 December 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2012. 
  16. ↑ "Offiziell: Gelson Fernandes und Jean-Alain Fanchone wechseln zu Udinese Calcio" [Official: Gelson Fernandes and Jean-Alain Fanchone go to Udinese] (in German). Goal.com. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2013. 
  17. ↑ "Gelson in Alvalade". Sporting Clube de Portugal (sporting.pt). 4 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012. 
  18. ↑ "Dispensados oferecidos para baixar preço dos reforços" [Dispensed to lower prices offered reinforcements] (in Portuguese). O Jogo. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013. 
  19. ↑ "Gelson de retour". FC Sion (in French) (www.fc-sion.ch). 21 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012. 
  20. ↑ "Sion vai ter de pagar" [Sion will have to pay] (in Portuguese). O Jogo. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013. 
  21. ↑ "Gelson Fernandes trainiert schon beim SC" (in German). kicker.de. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013. 
  22. ↑ Sheringham, Sam. "Spain 0–1 Switzerland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 June 2013. 
  23. ↑ "Gelson FERNANDES Profile". FIFA.com. 8 December 2010. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013. 
  24. ↑ Richards, Micah (6 October 2007). "Micah Richards column". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 June 2013. 
  25. ↑ "Valencia's Fernandes Wants Everton Move". premiershiplatest.com. 
  26. ↑ "Gelson Fernandes à Sion: «Priorité à ma fille Ariela»" (in French). lematin.ch. 22 December 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2013. 

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