Christian Negouai

Christian Negouai
Personal information
Date of birth (1978-01-20) 20 January 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth Fort-de-France, Martinique
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1997–1998 FC Vaulx-en-Velin
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 UR Namur
1999–2001 Charleroi
2001–2005 Manchester City 6 (1)
2005 → Coventry City (loan) 1 (0)
2005–2006 Standard Liège
2006 Aalesund
2006–2007 FC Brussels 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Christian Negouai (born 20 January 1978) is a French former professional footballer who played for as a midfielder.

He notably played in the Premier League for Manchester City and spent a spell on loan with Coventry City. He also played in Belgium with UR Namur, Charleroi and Standard Liège, FC Brussels and with Aalesund in Norway.

Career

Negouai was bought for £1.5 million by Manchester City from Charleroi in 2001. He made six league appearances of which two were match starts and scored once against Rotherham.[1] He also appeared for Manchester City in the UEFA Cup scoring against The New Saints F.C.[2] Negouai proved to be a versatile success for Manchester City Reserves in the Premier Reserve League, scoring nine goals in 19 games after being converted to a centre forward from a defensive midfielder[3] although his time at Manchester City was hampered by a serious injury which required operations on both knees restricting his appearances.[4] According to Duncan Alexander, as of January 2019 he remains the only player to be sent off on their one and only Premier League appearance.[5]

Upon joining Standard Liège, Negouai scored the fastest goal in Belgian League history when he struck after just 11 seconds in a 2-0 win over KVC Westerlo.[6]

Personal life

Negouai is a practising Muslim.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Man City 2-1 Rotherham". BBC. 23 November 2001. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  2. ^ Phil Shaw (29 August 2003). "Negouai and Huckerby smooth City's advance but TNS earn credit". The Independent Newspaper. Retrieved 5 June 2008.[dead link‍]
  3. ^ Chris Bailey (16 June 2005). "Blues ready to offload Negouai". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
  4. ^ "Christian's challenge". Manchester Evening News. 23 May 2003. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
  5. ^ @oilysailor (2 January 2019). "The only player to get sent off in their one & only PL appearance is Christian Negouai" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "Negouai in goal rush". Manchester Evening News. 18 April 2006. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
  7. ^ Sam Wallace (5 November 2003). "Test forces Muslim to break Ramadan". The Telegraph Newspaper. Retrieved 5 June 2008.