10 things you need to know about Andre-Pierre Gignac

By Dan Silver in Football Spy

Published 13:01 06/01/10

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Arsenal have been linked with French striker Andre-Pierre Gignac for some time now, but as our own John Cross has revealed, the Toulouse striker has leaped to the top of Arsene Wenger's striker short list .

Here's you essential need-to-know on France's Gypsy King:

1) André-Pierre Gignac was born on December 5, 1985 in Martigues, south east France. He comes from a footballing family: two of his cousins - Valenciennes defender Jacques Abardonado and Monaco winger Yohan Mollo - are also professionals.

2) He started out at local club FC Martigues before being accepted into Lorient's youth academy. He made his debut for the French Ligue 2 side in August 2004, coming on as a substitute against Châteauroux. To say he made an impact would be an understatement: Gignac scored what turned out to be the winning goal within a matter of seconds.

3) Following time out recovering from two broken ankles, he spent most of the 2005-06 season on-loan at third tier side Pau but made a successful return to Lorient - now ensconced in Ligue 1 - in 2006, finishing the season as the club's top scorer with nine goals from 37 starts.

4) His summer 2007 move to Toulouse was marred by controversy. Lorient had already accepted a sizeable offer from Lille and reports suggested Gignac had already signed a pre-contact with the club before Toulouse offered to double the striker's wages. After a very public war of words, Gignac eventually signed for TFC in July.

5) His first season with Toulouse was a wash-out; after making his debut in the first leg of the Champions League qualifying tie eventually won 5-0 on aggregate by Liverpool, Gignac struggled to find the target. Playing second fiddle to current Bolton striker Johan Elmander, he eventually netted just twice in 28 games.

6) With Elmander having departed for the Reebok, Gignac flourished during the 2008-09 season. He was awarded Player of the Month twice, won the Trophée du Meilleur Buteur - Ligue 1's equivalent to the Golden Boot - for his stunning return of 24 goals (from 38 league games), was selected in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year and was edged out of the Player of the Year award by Bordeaux midfielder Yoann Gourcuff.

7) And here's a bumper collection of 21 of those goals:

8) He made his international debut in April 2009, coming on as a sub in France's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania and setting up Franck Ribery for the winner. He bagged his first goal the following August during Les Bleus' nervy 1-0 win over the Faroe islands, and has to date scored four goals in 10 games. Three of those came against the Faroe Islands, but here's one against the slightly better Austrians:

9) He's descended from Spanish Gypsy stock, but considers himself an honorary Manouche (a French offshoot of the Romany people). "I grew up with them, my wife is Manouche so my son is automatically Manouche. My family live in caravans and work in the markets. When I get given clothes I pass them on to my mother-in-law so she can sell them. Sometimes I go with her and stand behind the stall." Incidentally, his son is also named Andre-Pierre... Anyway, here's an in-no-way dodgy compilation of the best gypsies in football:

10) Arsene Wenger might have a thing or two to say about his lifestyle if this quote from an interview with French magazine So Foot is anything to go by: "Gypsies like big parties. They make enough food for 100, even if there are only 30 people. We eat and drink a lot, play games and go hunting. I had a fantastic time hunting for rabbits and deer — I’m not sure you’re allowed to do that any more. The guys are amazing, though. They’re like snipers. One of my wife’s cousins took aim from 40 metres and this bird just dropped out of the sky."

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