PLAYER PROFILE

William Gallas

Position: Defence

Height: 5'11

Weight: 11st 5lbs

Date of Birth: 1977-08-17 Asnieres-sur-Seine, France

William Gallas

Chelsea wasted no time in signing Marseille defender William Gallas at a cost of £6.2million on a five year deal.

Gallas was widely regarded as one of the brightest defensive prospects in France. Claudio Ranieri monitored his progress and was given a glowing reference by Marcel Desailly.

Gallas is known for him speed and strength - two qualities which make the ideal central defender.

At Marseille, Gallas filled in all across the back-four, and he came through the same France under-21 ranks as Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet.

In his first season in the Premiership, Gallas was highly impressive for Chelsea, and made 41 appearances, scoring two goals. However, he was not included in the French 2002 World Cup squad. Considering the ages of most of the players ahead of him, he cannot have too long to wait, as long as he continues to perform so well for Chelsea.

Indeed, another successful season brought its rewards as Gallas earned his first cap in 2002/03. Six more followed by the end of the season, and he celebrated by helping Chelsea reach the Champions League.

Despite speculation that he didn’t see his future at Stamford Bridge in summer 2003, he showed his committment to Chelsea’s cause in July by signing a one year extension to a contract which already had three years left on it. This keeps him at the club until his 30th birthday.

He continued to feature regularly for Chelsea during the season which followed, putting in consistent performances for both club and country. The season ended with Gallas representing France at Euro 2004. By the end of the tournament the defender had earned 20 caps.

Battling it out with youngster Robert Huth and newboy Ricardo Carvalho for his place alongside John Terry in the centre of Chelsea's defence, the 2004/05 season proved a challenge for Gallas - one he rose to.

Gallas proved an important and steady figure in the Chelsea defence making 46 appearances and scoring twice in 4-1 away drubbings of both Fulham and West Brom.

He was again impressive in 2005/06, although the thorny issue of whereabouts in the defence he should play continued to cause some friction between himself and Jose Mourinho. Nevertheless, he was again one of Chelsea's best players, scoring five goals. He was a regular for France in their World Cup campaign, playing every minute all the way to the final.

After the tournament, the row between he and Mourinho escalated when he refused to join up with a tour of the USA. He eventually demanded a transfer, a request which was granted on deadline day in August 2006 thanks to a swap deal with Arsenal for Ashley Cole.

His first season at Arsenal was an impressive one as he scored three goals in 29 appearances. However, as he was one of the few experienced players in the youthful Gunners team, he finished the season trophy-less and will be hoping to pick up some silverware in 2007/08.