Contracted to Arsenal for eight years, two of them as a youth player, Jeremie Aliadiere made his debut for the Gunners aged 18, replacing another French man, a fellow called Thierry Henry. Whatever happened to him, too?
Arsenal overview
During his time at Arsenal, he would end up playing a total of 51 times in all competitions with a goal tally of nine; he was also sent out on loan to Celtic, West Ham, and Wolverhampton Wanderers, with no considerable success in either of the three loan spells.
The 6 foot striker, who can also play on either wing, played in the League Cup final of 2007 for 80 minutes against Chelsea, a game famous for Theo Walcott’s first Arsenal goal, John Terry getting kicked unconscious by Abou Diaby and Didier Drogba producing a stellar two-goal performance in a 2-1 victory for the London side not from the North.
2006-2007 would prove to be Aliadiere’s last season for the Gunners, and the player who showed such promise was sold for the relatively good sum of £2 million to Middlesbrough on the 19th June 2007.
Now in the North
Aliadiere would stay with Middlesbrough till the end of the 2009-2010 season, making 86 appearances and scoring 12 goals, with memorable ones coming against Manchester United at Old Trafford, Manchester City in an 8-1 victory and twice against old club Arsenal in 1-1 draws. However, following their relegation to the Championship at the end of 2008-2009 season, and subsequent failure to gain promotion back to the Premier League in 2009-2010, Aliadiere decided to not take the option in his contract to extend for another year. He thus left Middlesbrough as a free agent after three seasons and began his search for a new club.
Injury
The next season would be Aliadiere’s annus horribilis. Whilst playing in reserve match with West Ham against Crystal Palace, with view to becoming a West Ham player, Aliadiere injured his knee ligaments and the move to the Hammers fell through. Middlesbrough offered him full use of their training facilities whilst he was injured to help with the rehabilitation process. Moves to Blackpool and Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates fell through later in the season with the player even stating that he “hit rock bottom”. Aliadiere was allowed to return to Arsenal to use the facilities in the clubs London Colney ground in order to gain full fitness.
Back in his homeland
After playing no football in 2010-2011, Aliadiere signed for Lorient of France on a free transfer, on a contract that was initially for one year, but that got extended to three years due to his good performances. His career in France was substantially better than his one in England. In three seasons with Lorient, Aliadiere would end up playing 83 times and scoring 31 goals in all competitions and there were even murmurings of him being given a chance for the French national team. If 2010-2011 was his annus horribilis, 2012-2013 would be his annus mirabilis, as the French striker scored 19 goals in all competitions, with 15 coming in Ligue 1 as Lorient finished in a respectable 8th place.
Down from his zenith
2013-2014 was a quieter year for Aliadiere, with less goals and less games for Lorient. In the summer transfer window of 2014, Aliadiere sealed a move to Qatari club, Umm Salal, for a fee £352,000 and ended up scoring six times in the All Stars League in 24 matches, with an average goal every 227 minutes. As of now, Aliadiere still remains with the Qatari side and the 32 year old's career in European football looks to be over, or at the very least, has lost the impetus it had after 2013.