PLAYER PROFILE

Laurent Robert

Position: Midfield

Height: 5'9

Weight: 10st 9lbs

Date of Birth: 1975-05-21 Saint-Benoit, France

Laurent Robert

Laurent Robert signed for Newcastle United for £10.5million on August 1, 2001. He joined Newcastle after an on-off transfer saga that the Magpies chairman Freddie Shepherd ended when he held talks in Paris that secured the promising Frenchman for the northeasterners.

Robert was born on 21 May 1975 in Saint-Benoit on the Indian Ocean Island of La Reunion. He has won International caps at Youth, B and first team level for France.

His career in domestic football began at Montpellier in 1994 before a move to Paris St Germain followed in 1999.

In the 2000/2001 season Robert made 26 appearances for PSG including appearances as a substitute and he managed an impressive 15-goal haul from the attacking left-sided position he favours.

Robert made 34 appearances in his impressive first season, scoring 10 goals. Among his best performances was in Newcastle's 4-3 win over Manchester United, where Robert ripped into the frail United defence and had a hand in most of the goals.

Despite speculation that he would move on following the signing of Hugo Viana, Robert denied that he would leave St James'.

Robert was in and out of the papers for one reason and another, seemingly falling out with Newcastle boss Sir Bobby Robson on a regular basis throughout the 2003/04 season. So much so that again, come the summer, a loan move to Marseille was on the cards, but it seemed that the French side were reluctant because of financial reasons.

He had another turbulent season in 2004/05, falling out with Graeme Souness after publicly criticising him and the rest of the Magpies squad. It was no surprise when he left in June 2005 to join Portsmouth on loan for half a season before moving to Benfica in January 2006.

After a further spell at Levante, Robert was back in the Premier League in January 2008 though, signing for Derby County until the end of the season.