Gregory Arnolin

Football player infobox
playername = Grégory Arnolin


height = height|ft=6|in=2
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1980|11|10
cityofbirth = Livry-Gargan, Paris
countryofbirth = France
currentclub = Vitória Guimarães
clubnumber = 17
position = Defender
youthyears = 1997-2001
youthclubs = Paris Saint-Germain
years = 2001-2002 2002-2004 2004-2006 2006-2008 2008-
clubs = Villemomble Sports Pedras Rubras Gil Vicente CS Marítimo Vitória Guimarães
caps(goals) = 0 (0) 44 (8) 53 (11) 44 (3)
pcupdate = August 1, 2008

Grégory Arnolin (born November 10, 1980 in Livry-Gargan, Paris) is a French football defender, currently playing for Vitória Sport Clube in the Portuguese first division.

At the age of 16, Arnolin signed a semi-professional contract with Paris Saint-Germain FC. During his 4-year spell at the club, he would never play for the first team, being loaned out on three separate occasions to different Paris based semi-professional teams (U.S. Torcy, F.C. Lilas and F.C. Livry). In the summer of 2001, Arnolin's contract with PSG ran out and he became a free agent. He was quickly snapped up by semi-professional outfit Villemomble Sports (also in Paris, competing in the fourth division). However, he never appeared in a league match for the team, and in the summer of 2002 was released.

Arnolin then moved to Portugal to play for F.C. Pedras Rubras, in the Portuguese Third Division. After solid performances, he attracted attention from bigger Portuguese clubs, and eventually signed his first professional contract with "Liga de Honra" side Gil Vicente F.C. in 2004-05. In 2005-06, he netted an impressive 9 league goals for the Barcelos side, catching the eye of Madeira-based C.S. Marítimo, and in that summer signed a 2-year contract for the club. After only missing one league game in his first season, Arnolin played second-fiddle in the second (15 appearances).

On June 12, 2007, British sports channel Sky Sports reported that Arnolin was preparing to sign for West Bromwich Albion of the English Championship after manager Tony Mowbray made it clear that the player was one of his summer transfer targets. The player's agent, former footballer Rudi Vata, said to the Birmingham Mail:

"There is a good possibility that Grégory will join West Bromwich but there are still issues to be resolved. We should know more at the end of this month when people are back from holiday and all focus switches towards pre-season. I think there is a big chance he will be a West Bromwich player next season. He is well aware of how close they were to playing in the Premiership and the club's ambitions match his own. What we don't know yet is whether it would be a transfer for about £400,000 or a loan move - that is one of the issues we have to discuss". [ [http://home.skysports.com/transferarticle.aspx?hlid=471499 Sky Sports - Home] ]

However, nothing came of it and Arnolin remained in Marítimo. On June 7, 2008, he signed for another Portuguese team, Vitória de Guimarães, as he was also applying for Portuguese citzenship.

References

External links

* [http://www.zerozero.eu/uk/jogador.php?id=7746 Stats and profile at zerozero.pt]