Bacary Sagna
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Bacary Sagna (born 14 February 1983) is a French former professional
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who played as a right back and is mostly known for his time at Arsenal. He also played for the
France national football team The France national football team (french: Équipe de France de football) represents France in men's international football matches. It is governed by the French Football Federation (FFF; ), the governing body for football in France. It is ...
. Sagna's former manager at Arsenal, Arsène Wenger, once described him as the best
right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
in the
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
. In addition to him regularly featuring as a wing-back, he played as a centre-back for Arsenal on several occasions. Sagna began his career at
Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...
, before transferring to Arsenal for £7 million in 2007. In 2014, shortly after winning the FA Cup, his first trophy at the club, he made a move to Manchester City. A full international from 2007 to 2016, he was selected by
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
for two
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
tournaments and one
UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...
.


Club career


Sens

Sagna started his career at FC Sens. He played for their youth team until 1998.


Auxerre

In 1998, he moved to
AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division ...
's youth team. Eventually, he was promoted to the first team and he made 87 Ligue 1 appearances for them. He was part of the squad that won the
Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
in 2005. He also played in the
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
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 Vassiriki Abou Diaby (born 11 May 1986), known as Abou Diaby, is a French former professional footballer. He played primarily in a box to box role, adept at both attacking and defending. Described as a player who was "languid, elusive, and a ...
, a future Arsenal teammate, and
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
centre-back
Younès Kaboul Younes Kaboul (born 4 January 1986) is a French former professional footballer who played as a centre-back for Auxerre, Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth, Sunderland and Watford. For France, Kaboul played for the under-21 team and went on to play ...
. Sagna established himself as one of the best full backs of the French top tier and thus became dubbed "Mr. Reliable" by the club's fans. He also won Auxerre's Player of the Year award for the 2006–07 season.


Arsenal


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 have risen to €11 million. He was given the number 3 shirt, previously worn by former defender
Ashley Cole Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English football coach and former player who is currently a first-team coach at Premier League club Everton. As a player, he played as a left-back, most notably for Arsenal and Chelsea. Cole is cons ...
. 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. On 13 February 2008, exactly one week before Arsenal were set to play the second leg of their round of 16 encounter against
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
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
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
goal off a low header from a corner kick to give Arsenal a 1–0 lead against
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
rivals
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at Stamford Bridge, but later went off injured before Chelsea came back to win the game 2–1. At the end of the season, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year.


2008–09 season

Sagna signed a new deal with Arsenal before the start of the 2008–09 season. Arsenal 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 with the lead.


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 arguably being the cross to striker
Nicklas Bendtner Nicklas Bendtner (; born 16 January 1988) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a forward. His preferred position was centre-forward, but he has also played on the right side of attack, and occasionally on the left. A large, ...
, who gave Arsenal the 1–0 lead in the 94th minute against
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
. Despite this, however, Sagna was linked away from the club with various teams, including
Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
's
Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...
, seemingly interested in taking the defender away from London.


2010–11 season

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 The Emirates Cup is a pre-season association football invitational competition hosted by English club Arsenal at their home ground, Emirates Stadium, in Highbury, London. The two-day competition was inaugurated in 2007 and is named after Arsena ...
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, he scored only his second ever official goal for Arsenal in a 2–1 away victory against Everton at
Goodison Park Goodison Park is a association football, football stadium in the Walton, Liverpool, Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area ...
, 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 Serbian club
Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...
in Arsenal's final Champions League group game of the season. On 1 January 2011, in a match with
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
, he was involved in an incident where
Lee Bowyer Lee David Bowyer (; born 3 January 1977) is an English football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder who featured for Charlton Athletic, Leeds United, West Ham United (two spells), Newcastle United, Birming ...
stamped on him after Sagna had gone in for a tackle. Bowyer was banned by the FA for three games for the stamp. On 5 January, Sagna picked up his second red card of the season after he and Manchester City fullback
Pablo Zabaleta Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod (; born 16 January 1985) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a right back. Zabaleta could operate on both sides of the pitch as a full-back and was known for his tenacious style of play, an ...
headbutted each other in the final moments of Arsenal's 0–0 draw with City at Emirates Stadium. On 19 January, Sagna scored his second goal of the season with Arsenal's second goal in their 3–1 victory over
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
at Elland Road in a third round replay. This was Sagna's career best for goal-scoring, his previous best coming in the 2007–08 season where scored only once. Sagna was included in the PFA Team of the Year for his performance in the 2010–11 season.


2011–12 season

On 13 August 2011, Sagna started and played the full 90 minutes against Newcastle United at
St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Pa ...
in a 0–0 draw on the opening day of the
2011–12 Premier League The 2011–12 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 13 August 2011 and ended on 13 May 2012 with Manchester Ci ...
season. On Saturday 20 August, he started at left-back and played the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 defeat at the hands of a
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
side that picked up its first win over the Gunners away from home in 11 years. On 28 August, Sagna 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 Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
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 2012, he started in the North London derby against Spurs, scoring a header from a
Mikel Arteta Mikel Arteta Amatriain (born 26 March 1982) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player. He is the manager of club Arsenal. Arteta began his senior career at Barcelona in 1999 but limited playing time led to a loan to Paris ...
cross and inspiring Arsenal to come back from being 2–0 down to go on and win 5–2. He unfortunately sustained another leg break of the same leg in the final home match of the season against
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
, which ruled him out of
UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...
in June 2012.


2012–13 season

In October 2012, Sagna marked his return to the first team by starting in Arsenal's 1–0 victory over
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
. On 3 November, he started and played the full 90 minutes at right-back against Manchester United at Old Trafford, a 2–1 league defeat. In his absence with a broken leg,
Carl Jenkinson Carl Daniel Jenkinson (born 8 February 1992) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a right-back for Newcastle Jets FC, Newcastle Jets in the Australian A-League Men, A-League. Jenkinson began his career with C ...
started for Arsenal and earned rave reviews, but Sagna continued to be Arsenal's first-choice right back upon his return. On 9 February 2013, due to an injury to centre-back
Laurent Koscielny Laurent Koscielny (born 10 September 1985) is a French former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Born in Tulle, Koscielny began his football career playing for a host of youth clubs before moving to Guingamp in 2003, where he q ...
during warm-ups, Sagna was forced to fill in as a central defender against Sunderland. He helped a ten-man Arsenal win 1–0. On 28 April 2013, Sagna committed a mistimed tackle inside the penalty box on
Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Van Persie was known for his excellent technique and ball c ...
in a 1–1 home draw against Manchester United, conceding a penalty to bring the score level after a second-minute Arsenal goal from
Theo Walcott Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Southampton and previously for the English national team. Walcott is a product of the Southampton Academy and started his career with ...
.


2013–14 season

Sagna remained Arsenal's first choice right-back at the start of the season, fighting off competition from Carl Jenkinson. 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. On 17 May, Sagna started in the 2014 FA Cup Final as Arsenal beat
Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
3–2 at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
, his first trophy at the club. 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 offered him a two-year extension, Sagna was believed to be "90 per cent certain" of leaving the Emirates, thus rejecting the contract extension. Additional sources understand that Manchester City and a number of top clubs in Europe had expressed an interest in signing him. Sagna said he did not sign a new deal with Arsenal because "the discussions did not go in the direction that he wanted".


Manchester City

It was announced on 13 June 2014 that Sagna had agreed to a deal with Manchester City to join the reigning Premier League champions after his contract with Arsenal was set to expire on 30 June. He was City's first signing of the summer and signed a three-year deal, taking the number 3 shirt. He left the club at the end of his contract in June 2017.


Benevento

On 3 February 2018, Sagna signed with
Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
side Benevento Calcio for six months and a year in option. On 29 April, Sagna scored his sole goal for Benevento with 90th-minute header in their 3–3 draw to Udinese.


Montreal Impact

On 8 August 2018, Sagna signed with Montreal Impact in Major League Soccer for the remainder of the 2018 season, with an option for 2019. Although the option was not taken up, Sagna subsequently signed a one-year contract to stay with the club for the 2019 season.


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 contacted me and I had a game on the same day with the French national team under 21s so I had to make a choice."


Senior

Sagna received his first senior international
cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...
for
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
on 22 August 2007 in a friendly match against
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
on the road, which they won 1–0, coming on as a substitute for
François Clerc François Jacques Clerc (born 18 April 1983) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right back. Club career Born in Bourg-en-Bresse, Clerc joined Olympique Lyonnais at the age of 14. After spending his first years as a sen ...
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 The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
on 13 October 2007 in the
UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...
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 team for their friendly match against Sweden in August 2008, playing all 90 minutes in a 3–2 away win. He went on to become a regular in the French team's qualifying campaign for the
2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
. He was also a part of the disastrous French World Cup campaign when the team crashed out at the group stage after losing 2–1 against hosts
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. Sagna missed out on
UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...
with a broken leg.


Personal life

Bacary Sagna was born in Sens, France to Senegalese parents. He is a Muslim. In 2010, he married French-Algerian model Ludivine Kadri with whom he already had a son named Elias (born in 2009). In 2013, Kadri gave birth to the couple's second son Kais. His cousin
Ibrahima Sonko Ibrahima Sonko (born 22 January 1981) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Sonko moved to France from Senegal at a young age and began his career with Olympique Noisy-le-Sec and AS Saint-Étienne, before ...
played in England for
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
and in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
for
Akhisar Belediyespor Akhisarspor Kulübü (Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.
. 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 The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
. Sagna is called "Bac" by the majority of his teammates.


Career statistics


Club


International

Source:


Honours

Auxerre *
Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
: 2004–05 Arsenal *
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
: 2013–14 * Football League Cup runner-up:
2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...
Manchester City *Football League Cup: 2015–16 Montreal Impact * Canadian Championship:
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
Individual * UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2006–07 *
Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...
Player of the Season: 2006–07 * PFA Team of the Year:
2007–08 Premier League The 2007–08 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) season was the 16th since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 11 August 2007, and the season ended on 11 May 2008. Manche ...
,
2010–11 Premier League The 2010–11 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The 2010–11 fixtures were released on 17 June 2010 at 09:00 BST. The seaso ...


References


External links


Official website
* * *
Benevento profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sagna, Bacary 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Sens French footballers France under-21 international footballers French Muslims Association football defenders Ligue 1 players Premier League players Serie A players FC Sens players AJ Auxerre players Arsenal F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Benevento Calcio players CF Montréal players French sportspeople of Senegalese descent France international footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate soccer players in Canada French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Canada French expatriate sportspeople in England 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players Black French sportspeople Major League Soccer players FA Cup Final players Footballers from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté