Emmanuel Petit is one of the most famous French football players who played at the turn of the century. A defensive midfielder who has played in several top clubs and won both of the most prestigious trophies at the national level, he really deserves attention. And now you will find out the details of his career. Emmanuel Petit is an outstanding personality in French football, and, unlike many football players, he devoted almost his entire career to his native club.
Home club is for a long time
Emmanuel Petit was born in France on September 22, 1970, and from an early age he began to attend Arc-la-Bataille football school. When the boy was only 15 years old, he was noticed in one of the largest French clubs - Monaco. He was invited to watch, and in 1985 Emmanuel began to play for the youth academy of this club.
After going through youth squads, in 1988, at the age of 18, Petit signed his first professional contract, which linked him to Monaco for a long time. Many French footballers quite quickly left their native clubs, going to other leagues, but Petit remained faithful to Monaco. He spent nine whole years here, that is, he devoted most of his career to this club. Together with Monaco, he won the French Cup in 1991, and in 1997 the national championship. It was this year that was decisive, as Emmanuel Petit ended up on the guns at the top European clubs. And the Frenchman decided that it was time for a change by agreeing to a transfer. As his new club, he chose London's Arsenal, which paid out just four million euros for a defensive midfielder.
Success at Arsenal
It was in the Arsenal that Emanuel Petit flourished - the footballer began to play at a new level, became the leader of his club. And a variety of trophies immediately rained down on him. In his first year at Arsenal, the Frenchman became the winner of the English championship, the owner of the FA Cup, and in the next two years he took two Super Cups in England. Of course, Petit was already thirty years old, but this did not prevent the largest clubs from showing interest in him. And in 2000, Emmanuel decided to leave the UK and go to Spain, where he was already waiting for Barcelona, who paid an incredible sum for him at that time - fifteen million euros.
Transfer to another club
However, in “Barcelona”, unfortunately, Petit was not able to achieve impressive success - he could not even gain a foothold in the main team. This did not suit either the management of the club or the player himself, so his relations with the Catalans turned out to be extremely short - already in 2001, Barcelona got rid of the Frenchman. Of course, the Catalans could not return the full amount, but for eleven and a half million euros, the midfielder agreed to sign another London club - Chelsea.
Last team
Chelsea for Petit was the last club of his career - he signed a contract for two years, which was then extended for another year. But in 2004, having spent a little over fifty matches for the Londoners, Petit announced that he was completing a football career. Many athletes resume training over time, but Petya’s decision was final and irrevocable. Moreover, in those days there was no popularization of exotic leagues, where old players went to finish their careers in order to earn money. Therefore, 2004 was the last year in the sports life of Petit.
Team appearances
As you have already noticed, at the club level, Emmanuel Petit was quite successful, however, the French team did not achieve the greatest success with him. Why do we have the right to say so? The fact is that Petit is one of those athletes who made France the strongest football country at the turn of the millennium. Emmanuel himself took part in three major tournaments during his career - in two World Championships and one European Championship. Few can boast of such results, but he won first the World Cup in 1998, and then the European Cup in 2000.
Alas, the performances that the French team showed in 2002 were simply disastrous, and in many ways the reason for the failure was the fact that there were too many champions who were already aged and could not show the same wonderful game.
What did Emmanuel have to do with football after his career? Basically, a former French football player works in the direction of charity. All his fans are well aware of one story that happened in 2011. Emmanuel Petit ran all his career across the football field with a luxurious mane of long hair - this was his hallmark. However, in 2011, Petit decided to cut all his hair, including the beard he had grown - with this action, he was able to collect 34 thousand pounds for charity. This is an impressive step, and looking at the bald Petit after two decades of long hair was quite unusual.