Djourou, Yoan

Djourou was born in the city of Abidjan , Cote d'Ivoire , in the family of Ivorian parents Joachim and Angelina, and was later adopted by his father’s first wife, Daniel, a woman from Switzerland . They moved to Geneva when Joan was 17 months old. Djourou started playing football at the age of 13, and in 2002 he joined a local Swiss club called Étoile Carouge, while still playing in the midfield position. A year later, Djourou signed a professional contract with London-based Arsenal . He was also present in the youth team of Switzerland (up to 19 years old), which reached the semifinal stage at the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Arsenal

Yoan Djourou made his debut for Arsenal in the Gunners-won 3: 1 League League match with Everton , replacing in the 89th minute. And the Swiss spent their first full match for the main team on January 14, 2006, playing the central defender together with another Swiss, Philippe Senderos , where his team won a crushing victory over Middlesbrough with a score of 7: 0.

In February 2006 , Djourou played in league games against West Ham United , Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers . In April 2006, he came on as a substitute in a match with Aston Villa instead of injured Emmanuel Eboue and helped his team win with a score of 5: 0. Yoan then took part in the match with Portsmouth , in which experienced defender Sol Campbell returned to the team. Several Italian clubs became interested in the Swiss defender, but after the end of the 2006 World Cup, he signed a six-year contract with Arsenal. Djourou played in the pre-season matches of the Emirates Cup and took part in the victorious matches for his team with Inter Milan and French Paris Saint-Germain .

February 5, 2011 in the match against Newcastle United after the transfer of Andrei Arshavin scored his first goal in the Premier League .

Rentals in Birmingham City

On August 10, 2007, Ioan Djourou on loan signed a five-month contract with Birmingham City . He made his debut for the new team two days later, in a match with London “ Chelsea ”, where the Birmingham team lost 3: 2. In the last match of the “blue” Djourou was marked by an excellent throw-in out, thanks to which Nicolas Anelka was able to score a goal. Birmingham's head coach Alex McLeish wanted to leave the Swiss on the team, but Djourou returned to Arsenal, replacing Kolo Toure and Alex Song , who were in the national team's location and took part in the 2008 African Nations Cup .

Return to Arsenal

In May 2008, Djourou said that he would help partner Cesc Fabregas in midfield after Mathieu Flamini left for Milan and that he could ensure the physical presence of what Arsenal lacked after Patrick Vieira left in 2005. The Swiss was Arsene Wenger's first choice among the defenders of the reserve after Philip Senderos left Milan for a year on loan. In September, Djourou signed a new long-term contract with the club.

After leaving Kolo Toure in Manchester City , Djourou had a chance to get into the starting lineup of the team, however, on April 11, 2009, in the Premier League match against Wigan , Yoan suffered a knee injury, due to which he needed an operation. Subsequently, Djourou missed more than a year, returning to the ranks only at the end of the next season, replacing him in the match with Fulham , in which the “gunners” scored four unanswered goals. It was the only match of the Swiss in the season 2009/10.

Rentals in Hannover 96

January 6, 2013 Yoan on loan to the end of the season moved to the German club " Hannover 96 " ^[3] .

Rent and transfer to Hamburg

July 2, 2013 Djourou was leased by the German " Hamburg " with the right of subsequent redemption ^[4] .

In the summer of 2014, the dinosaurs bought Yoan from Arsenal in London. The amount of transfer was about 3 million euros ^[5] .

In the youth team of Switzerland, Djoura made his debut in the match with the national team of Scotland , coming on as a substitute and routinely playing in a pair with Arsenal partner Philip Senderos. Yoan was included in the Swiss national team at the 2006 World Cup , despite the fact that he did not participate in any qualifying match. Yoan was the third defender in the national team after Philip Senderos from Arsenal and Patrick Muller from Lyon , but he was out in the starting lineup against the Ukrainian team, but was injured and was replaced in the first half. A year later, Djoura twice went on as a substitute in qualifying matches for the European Championship among youth teams, but soon suffered a severe knee injury, which put him out of action for more than a year. Yoan lost his place in the Swiss national team and did not go to the World Cup in South Africa .

As of May 14, 2016