Grégory Arnolin

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Grégory
Personal information
Full nameGrégory Arnolin
Date of birth (1980-11-10) 10 November 1980
Place of birthLivry-Gargan, France
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing positionCentre back
Club information
Current clubPaços Ferreira
Number15
Youth career
1997–1999Paris Saint-Germain
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1999–2001Paris SG B
1999–2000→ Red Star SO (loan)
2001–2002Villemomble0(0)
2002–2004Pedras Rubras46(7)
2004–2006Gil Vicente53(11)
2006–2008Marítimo44(3)
2008–2009Vitória Guimarães25(2)
2009–2013Sporting Gijón93(3)
2013–Paços Ferreira5(0)
National team‡
2013–Martinique3(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 September 2013.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 July 2013

Grégory Arnolin (born 10 November 1980), known as simply Grégory, is a French professional footballer who plays for F.C. Paços de Ferreira in Portugal, as a central defender.

Club career

Arnolin was born in Livry-Gargan, Seine-Saint-Denis. At the age of 16 he signed a semi-professional contract with Paris Saint-Germain F.C. but, during his spell at the club, he never played for the first team.

In the summer of 2001, after a loan to FC Red Star Saint-Ouen, Arnolin's contract with PSG ran out and he became a free agent. He was quickly acquired by semi-professional outfit Villemomble Sports (also in Paris, competing in the fourth division) but, however, never appeared in a league match for the side, and in the summer of 2002 was released.

Arnolin then moved to Portugal, to play for F.C. Pedras Rubras in the third level. After solid performances he attracted attention from bigger clubs in the country, and eventually signed his first professional contract with Gil Vicente FC, in the top flight. In his second season he scored an impressive nine league goals for the Barcelos team, catching the eye of Madeira-based C.S. Marítimo and signing a two-year deal with the club in the summer of 2006; after only missing one league game in his first season, he played second-fiddle in the second (15 appearances).

On 12 June 2007, British sports channel Sky Sports reported that Arnolin was preparing to sign for West Bromwich Albion of the Football League Championship, after manager Tony Mowbray made it clear that the player was one of his summer transfer targets. The player's agent, former footballer Rudi Vata, said to the Birmingham Mail:

"There is a good possibility that Grégory will join West Bromwich but there are still issues to be resolved. We should know more at the end of this month when people are back from holiday and all focus switches towards pre-season. I think there is a big chance he will be a West Bromwich player next season. He is well aware of how close they were to playing in the Premiership and the club's ambitions match his own. What we don't know yet is whether it would be a transfer for about £400,000 or a loan move – that is one of the issues we have to discuss".[1]

However, nothing came of it and Arnolin remained in Marítimo. On 7 June 2008 he signed for another Portuguese team, Vitória de Guimarães,[2] as he was also applying for Portuguese citizenship – during his spell in the country, he began being addressed by his first name.

On 24 June 2009 Grégory moved to Sporting de Gijón, on a three-year link.[3] In only his third game for the Asturians he netted through a header, as 10-men Sporting levelled 2–2 at Valencia CF with just four minutes to go.[4]

International career

In June 2013, aged nearly 33, Grégory was called up by Martinique for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[5] He made his debut in the tournament's opener, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win against Canada.[6]

References

  1. ↑ West Brom keen on French defender; BBC Sport, 11 June 2007
  2. ↑ Guimarães makes Douglas latest recruit; UEFA.com, 6 July 2008
  3. ↑ Grégory Arnolin se convertirá en el tercer fichaje sportinguista y el Almería puja por Barral (Grégory Arnolin will become third Sportinguista signing, and Almería wants Barral); Canal Rojiblanco, 23 June 2009 (Spanish)
  4. ↑ Valencia held at home; ESPN Soccernet, 20 September 2009
  5. ↑ Gregory inicia la cuenta atrás para la Golden Cup (Gregory starts countdown for Golden Cup); La Nueva España, 12 June 2013
  6. ↑ Canada 0–1 Martinique; Global Sports Media, 7 July 2013

External links

F.C. Paços de Ferreira – current squad
Martinique squad – 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Martinique
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