Bacary Sagna

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Bacary Sagna
Bacary Sagna 2012.jpg
Sagna in 2012
Personal information
Full name Bacary Sagna
Date of birth (1983-02-14) 14 February 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth Sens, France
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Right back
Team information
Current team
 Manchester City
Number 3
Youth career
Sens
1998–2002 Auxerre
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 Auxerre B 37 (3)
2004–2007 Auxerre 89 (0)
2007–2014 Arsenal 213 (4)
2014– Manchester City 26 (0)
International career‡
2004–2006 France U21 13 (1)
2007– France 49 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 06:10, 27 December 2015 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12:42, 8 November 2015 (UTC)

Bacary Sagna (French pronunciation: ​[bakaʁi saɲa]) (born 14 February 1983) is a French professional footballer who plays for English club Manchester City and the France national team. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has described him as the best right back in the Premier League. In addition to his regular duties in the full-back position, Sagna played for Arsenal as a centre back on several occasions.[2][3][4]

He began his career at Auxerre, before transferring to Arsenal for £7 million in 2007. In 2014, shortly after winning the FA Cup, his first trophy at the club, he declared he would not continue as an Arsenal player and subsequently moved to Manchester City when his contract expired. A full international since 2007, he was selected by France for two World Cup tournaments.

Club career

Auxerre

Sagna started his career at FC Sens. Sagna made 87 Ligue 1 appearances for Auxerre and was part of the squad that won the French Cup in 2005. He also played in the UEFA Cup in each of his three seasons with the club's first team, making a total of 17 appearances in the competition. He was also voted into the Ligue 1 team of the season for his outstanding displays at the right back position. He played in the same Auxerre team as Abou Diaby, a future Arsenal team-mate, and Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Younès Kaboul. He has established himself as one of the league's best full backs and is known as Mr. Reliable by fans.[3]

Arsenal

Sagna playing for Arsenal in the 2007–08 season.

2007–08 season

On 12 July 2007, Sagna completed a move to Arsenal from Auxerre for an undisclosed fee, thought to have been an initial €9 million that could rise to €11 million.[5] He was given the number 3 shirt, which was previously worn by former defender Ashley Cole.[6]

Sagna made his debut for Arsenal on 19 July 2007 as a starter in the squad that beat Turkish club Gençlerbirliği 3–0 in a friendly at Austria's Bad Waltersdorf Stadion.[7]

On 13 February 2008, exactly one week before Arsenal were set to play the second leg of their 4th round encounter against A.C. Milan in the Champions League, Sagna's older brother, Omar Sagna, died at the age of 28, one day before his birthday. He, however, did play the match after he was advised to by his father. Arsenal went on to win the second leg 0–2 with the same scoreline on aggregate.

On 23 March, Sagna tallied his first league goal off a low header from a corner kick to give Arsenal a 1–0 lead against London rivals Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but later went off injured before Chelsea came back to win the game 2–1.[8] At the end of the season, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year.

2008–09 season

Alt text
Sagna taking a throw in against Manchester United

Sagna signed a new deal with Arsenal before the start of the 2008–09 season. Arsenal have signed him for a further two years, taking his contract up to 2014. Sagna stated. "I love Arsenal, it's a great club", and further added, "The manager is also very good and next season we will be fighting for all the trophies." He stunningly saved Arsenal in a 2–2 draw against Aston Villa when he jumped and kicked the ball away so that Arsenal would go into half time in the lead.[9]

2009–10 season

Sagna struggled to replicate his form from the previous two seasons as injuries also prevented him from contributing to the team in the same way. He provided many assists though. His most important contribution was giving a cross to Nicklas Bendtner to make it 1–0 in the 94th minute against Wolves. Despite this, he was linked away from the club with various teams, including Inter Milan, seemingly interested in taking the defender away from London.[10]

2010–11 season

Bacary Sagna playing for Arsenal in 2010

Sagna scored his first goal at the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal against Celtic, a game in which Arsenal went on to win 3–2 and win the Emirates Cup for the second consecutive year. He made his 100th league start for Arsenal on 3 October 2010, a 2–0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. On 14 November 2010, he scored only his second ever official goal for Arsenal in a 2–1 away victory against Everton at Goodison Park, with a powerful shot from the near post. On 8 December 2010, Sagna picked up his first red card in his Arsenal career in a 3–1 home victory against Partizan Belgrade in Arsenal's final Champions League group game of the season.

On 1 January 2011, in a match with Birmingham City, he was involved in an incident where Lee Bowyer stamped on him after Sagna had gone in for a tackle, Bowyer was then banned by the FA for three games for the stamp. On 5 January 2011, Sagna picked up his second red card of the season after he and Manchester City fullback Pablo Zabaleta headbutted each other in the final moments of Arsenal's 0–0 draw with Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium. On 19 January 2011, Sagna scored his second goal of the season with Arsenal's second goal in their 3–1 victory over Leeds United at Elland Road in a 3rd round replay. This was Sagna's career best for goal scoring, his previous best came in the 2007–08 season where he only got one goal. Sagna was included in the PFA Team of the Year for his performance in the 2010–11 season.

2011–12 season

On Saturday 13 August 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes against Newcastle United at St. James' Park in a 0–0 draw on the opening day of the Premier League season. On Saturday 20 August 2011, Sagna started at left-back and played the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 defeat at the hands of a Liverpool side who picked up their first win over the Gunners, away from home in 11 years. On 28 August 2011, he missed Arsenal's game against Manchester United at Old Trafford due to illness. Sagna sustained a leg break during a match against North London rivals, Tottenham, after a challenge by Benoît Assou-Ekotto forced him to land awkwardly. On 29 January 2012, Sagna came off the bench against Aston Villa as an 89th-minute substitute to mark his comeback. On 26 February he started in the North London derby again, and scored a header from a Mikel Arteta cross, inspiring Arsenal to come back from being 2–0 down at the time to go on and win 5–2.[11] He unfortunately sustained another leg break of the same leg in the final home match of the season against Norwich which ruled him out of Euro 2012.[12]

2012–13 season

During October, Sagna marked his return to the first team by starting in Arsenal's 1–0 victory over Queens Park Rangers.[13] On 3 November 2012, he started and played the full 90 minutes in the right-back berth against Manchester United at Old Trafford, the game ended in a 2–1 defeat for Arsenal in the Premier League.[14] In his absence Carl Jenkinson started for Arsenal and earned rave reviews but Sagna continued to be Arsenal's first choice right back. On 9 February 2013, due to an injury to Laurent Koscielny while warming up, Sagna was forced to fill in at center-back against Sunderland.[15] Sagna performed outstandingly despite playing out of position and helped a 10-man Arsenal win 1–0.[16] On 28 April 2013, Sagna would commit a mistimed tackle inside the penalty box on Robin van Persie in a 1–1 home draw against Manchester United, giving away a penalty to bring the score level, after a second-minute goal from Theo Walcott.

2013–14 season

Sagna during open top bus parade after winning the FA Cup.

Sagna remained Arsenal's first choice right-back at the start of the season, fighting off competition from Englishman Carl Jenkinson.[17] He scored his first goal of the season, his fifth in Arsenal colours, against Stoke City on 22 September, heading in Mesut Özil's free-kick, securing a 3–1 win for the Gunners.[18] On 17 May, Sagna started in the 2014 FA Cup Final as Arsenal beat Hull City 3–2 at Wembley Stadium, his first trophy at the club.[19]

It was announced on 27 May that Sagna would not extend his contract with the Gunners, which was set to expire at the end of the season. Although Arsenal handed him a two-year extension, Sagna was believed to be "90 per cent certain" of leaving the Emirates, thus denying the contract extension. Additional sources understand that fellow Premier League club Manchester City and a number of top clubs in Europe had expressed an interest in signing the France international.[20] Sagna said he didn't sign a new deal with Arsenal F.C because "the discussions did not go in the direction that I wanted." [21]

Manchester City

It was announced on 13 June 2014 that Sagna had agreed a deal with Manchester City to join the reigning Premier League champions, after his contract with Arsenal expired on 30 June. He was City's first signing of the summer, and signed a three-year deal, being handed the number 3 shirt.[22]

International career

Youth

Sagna has previously represented the French under-21 team, with whom he also participated at the 2006 European Under-21 Championship.

At age 17 Sagna wished to join up with the Senegalese national team stating, "I wanted to play for Senegal when I was 17, but they didn't reply. So I was a bit disappointed. But when I started playing for Auxerre for the first team, they (Senegal) contacted me and I had a game on the same day with the French national team under 21's so I had to make a choice".

Senior

He received his first senior international cap for France on 22 August 2007 in a friendly match against Slovakia on the road, which they won 1–0, coming on as a substitute for François Clerc after one hour of play. He went on to make his competitive debut for France in their 6–0 away win at the Faroe Islands on 13 October 2007 in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers, playing all 90 minutes. It was his only appearance in the Euro 2008 qualifying. He was not a candidate to join the French team at the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland as he was still recovering from the injury sustained in Arsenal's Premier League match at Chelsea in March 2008.

After recovering from the injury, Sagna returned to the French national team for their friendly match against Sweden in August 2008, playing all 90 minutes in a 3–2 away win for France. He went on to become a regular in the French team's qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He was part of the disastrous French World Cup Campaign when the team crashed out at the Group stage after losing against South Africa.

He missed out on UEFA Euro 2012 with a broken leg.[12]

Personal life

Sagna is of Senegalese descent and is a Muslim.[23] He has two children with his wife, Ludivine, who is from Auxerre and he uses Twitter to communicate with his fans.[24] His cousin Ibrahima Sonko played in England for Reading and in Turkey, for Akhisar Belediyespor.[25]

On 31 March 2011, Sagna became an ambassador for Grassroot Soccer, an international non-profit that uses the power of football to educate, inspire, and mobilise communities to stop the spread of HIV.[26]

Sagna is called Bac by the majority of his teammates.[27]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 12 December 2015[28][29]
Club Season League Cup[30] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Auxerre 2004–05 Ligue 1 26 0 7 0 10 0 43 0
2005–06 23 0 3 0 1 0 27 0
2006–07 38 0 3 0 10 0 51 0
Total 87 0 13 0 21 0 121 0
Arsenal 2007–08 Premier League 29 1 3 0 8 0 40 1
2008–09 35 0 5 0 9 0 49 0
2009–10 35 0 1 0 8 0 44 0
2010–11 33 1 6 1 4 0 43 2
2011–12 21 1 2 0 6 0 29 1
2012–13 25 0 3 0 3 0 31 0
2013–14 35 1 4 0 9 0 48 1
Total 213 4 24 1 47 0 284 5
Manchester City 2014–15 Premier League 10 0 3 0 4 0 17 0
2015–16 15 0 3 0 6 0 24 0
Total 25 0 6 0 10 0 41 0
Career total 325 4 43 1 78 0 446 5

Honours

Club

AJ Auxerre

Arsenal

Individual


References

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  11. ↑ "Arsenal 5–2 Tottenham" BBC Sport. 26 February 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Includes FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield.

External links

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