Gelson Fernandes

Gelson Fernandes

Fernandes as a Leicester City player
Personal information
Full name	Gelson Tavares Fernandes
Date of birth	2 September 1986 (1986-09-02)
Place of birth	Praia, Cape Verde
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Udinese (on loan from Saint-Étienne)
Number	6
Youth career
1995–2004	Sion
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2007	Sion	99	(1)
2007–2009	Manchester City	43	(3)
2009–	Saint-Étienne	33	(0)
2010–2011	→ Chievo (loan)	29	(2)
2011–2012	→ Leicester City (loan)	15	(1)
2012–	→ Udinese (loan)	1	(0)
National team‡
2006–2007	Switzerland U21	4	(0)
2007–	Switzerland	34	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 September 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 June 2010

Gelson Tavares Fernandes (born 2 September 1986 in Praia) is a Swiss footballer, who currently plays as a midfielder for Udinese Calcio on loan from AS Saint Etienne. He also plays for the Swiss national team.

Club career

Manchester City

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." He made his debut in the 0–0 draw against Portsmouth.

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. Gelson 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 Gelson 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 has 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. Fernandes made 59 appearances for City, scoring four times, but he 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. He signed a two-year contract and moved on a undisclosed fee. He made his league debut on 8 August 2009 in a 0–2 loss to Nice. Fernandes went on to make 33 appearance for Saint-Étienne in his first season.

Chievo Verona

On 30 August 2010, it was announced that Gelson Fernandes would be going out on loan with an option to purchase to Chievo Verona. Fernandes made his debut for Chievo in a 3-1 win over Genoa on 12 September 2010. Fernandes 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 scored his second goal for Chievo in a 2-1 loss against AC Milan on 20 February 2011. Fernandes went to make 29 appearance and scoring 2 for Chievo. At end of the 2010-2011 season, Chievo Verona decided against signing Fernandes on a permanent basis.

Leicester City

On 4 August 2011, Championship club Leicester City signed Fernandes on a season long loan, subject to international clearance. 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. He made his debut for the club in a 1-0 away win over Coventry City on 6 August 2011, scoring his first goal in a 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest on 20 August.. Following Göran Eriksson sacking due to poor result, Nigel Pearson was appointed manager Leicester City again. Fernandes has not played under Pearson until on 3 December 2011 Fernandes made his last appearance for Leicester City in a 2-1 loss against Hull City. On 30 December 2011, Fernandes has asked for his loan contract at Leicester City to be terminated and return to France. 6 days later on the 4th January,it was announced that Gelsons loan deal with Leicester had been cancelled by mutual consent.

Udinese

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 streghen the squad after some of the players go to the African Cup of Nations. So Udinese wanted a player who could acclimatise quickly. On 22 January 2012, Fernandes made his Udinese debut in a 2-1 win over Catania.

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. 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
1	28 March 2009	Zimbru Stadium, Chişinău, Moldova	Moldova	0–2	0–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	16 June 2010	Moses 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.

According to former Manchester City teammate Micah Richards, he is fluent in five languages: English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. He can also speak Portuguese, the official language of his birthplace, Cape Verde. He is the cousin of Portuguese footballer Manuel Fernandes.

Honours

FC Sion

• Swiss Cup: 2006

External links

• Gelson Fernandes career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile on 4thegame.com