Gilles Sunu
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gilles Sunu | ||
| Date of birth | 30 March 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | Châteauroux, France | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Angers | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–2007 | Châteauroux | ||
| 2007–2009 | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2011 | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | → Derby County (loan) | 9 | (1) |
| 2010–2011 | → Lorient (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2011 | → Lorient B (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2011–2015 | Lorient | 67 | (6) |
| 2012–2014 | Lorient B | 10 | (3) |
| 2015 | Evian | 10 | (3) |
| 2015– | Angers | 18 | (2) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2007–2008 | France U17 | 7 | (1) |
| 2008–2009 | France U18 | 8 | (2) |
| 2009–2010 | France U19 | 16 | (2) |
| 2010–2011 | France U20 | 14 | (4) |
| 2011 | France U21 | 6 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:52, 30 January 2016 (UTC). | |||
Gilles Sunu (born 30 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays in France for Angers as a striker. Sunu is a former French youth international. The striker has also played for clubs Arsenal, Derby County, Lorient and Evian as well.[1]
Career
Sunu was born in Châteauroux, Indre. He began his career at the LB Châteauroux academy, but moved to Arsenal in July 2007 on a four-year contract for a fee between £700,000 and £1 million.[2]
Arsenal
2009–10 season
Gilles had an impressive first half of the season with Arsenal Reserves, making nine appearances and scoring four goals. [3] He made his first team debut for the club when he started a League Cup match against West Bromwich Albion on 22 September 2009, playing 58 minutes before being substituted for Carlos Vela.[4] On 9 December 2009, Sunu made his UEFA Champions League debut in Arsenal's 1–0 away defeat to Olympiacos, coming on for Jack Wilshere on 76 minutes.[5]
Loan to Derby County
On 18 February 2010, Sunu signed for Derby County on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season.[6] He made his debut for the Rams as a first-half substitute in a 1–0 defeat to Swansea City, coming on for the injured Kris Commons before being later substituted on the 85-minute. Sunu scored his first goal in a 4–1 defeat away to Reading on 10 March 2010. After Stephen Pearson and Rob Hulse worked a smart one-two on the left side of the area and when Pearson was halted by a challenge, Sunu poked the loose ball past goalkeeper Adam Federici from the edge of the area.[7] In total, Sunu made nine appearances for Derby before returning to Arsenal slightly earlier than intended after picking up an injury in Derby's penultimate game of the season away to Bristol City.[8]
2010–11 season
After scoring in the final of the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in July, Gilles suffered a cartilage injury in his right knee that would keep him out of action for two months. Sunu made his comeback for the Arsenal Reserves against Blackpool at the end of September and went on to make eight appearances, scoring twice.[9]
Loan to Lorient
On 31 January 2011, Sunu opted to join Lorient on loan for the remainder of the 2010–11 campaign.[10] He made his debut for Les Merlus as a second-half substitute in the 2–0 victory over Caen.[11] Gilles created his first assist in the 3–2 away victory to Lens. After rounding Lens goalkeeper Vedran Runje, Sunu flicked the ball back from the byline for Kévin Gameiro to head in from five yards to make the score 2–2.[12] Gilles completed his loan at Lorient making nine appearances, all from the substitutes' bench.[13] Sky Sports reported that Lorient manager Christian Gourcuff was keen to re-sign Sunu as well as his Arsenal teammate Francis Coquelin on an additional year's loan, with Sunu hinting that he would welcome a return to the seaport town.[14]
Lorient
Gilles Sunu signed a four-year contract with Lorient on 31 August 2011, just three days after being an unused substitute in Arsenal's heavy 8–2 defeat to Manchester United.[15] Sunu made his full debut for Lorient in the 1–1 away draw against Sochaux, coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute for Arnold Mvuemba.[16] On 6 November 2011, Sunu scored his first goal for Lorient and made an assist in the 2–0 home win against Ajaccio. Sunu went past his man and cut the ball back for Yann Jouffre to score from outside the box. Before Jouffre turned provider and played Sunu in on goal with only the keeper to beat.[17] Sunu scored his second goal of the season in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de la Ligue in the 1–0 away victory to Le Mans. Gilles beat Le Mans goalkeeper Giorgi Makaridze at the near post on the 70th minute after coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute for Innocent Emeghara.[18]
International career
Sunu is a French youth international having earned caps for the under-17s, under-18s, under-19s, under-20s and under-21s. He served as captain throughout the 2008–09 season for the under-19s. During the final of the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, Sunu equalised against Spain to put France on course for a 2–1 victory.[19]
Sunu was named in France under-20's final 21-man squad that competed at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He started all seven of France's world cup games, scoring seven goals in total as France finished fourth in Colombia.[20]
Personal life
Sunu is the son of former Togolese international Manu Sunu.[2]
Career statistics
- As of 31 January 2015.[21]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Arsenal | 2009–10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Derby County (loan) | 2009–10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Lorient | 2010–11 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 2011–12 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2 | |
| 2012–13 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 4 | |
| 2013–14 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | |
| 2014–15 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | |
| Career total | 79 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 90 | 9 | |
Honours
Club
- FA Youth Cup: Winner - 2008–09
- Premier Academy League: Winner - 2008–09
International
- UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship: Winner - 2010
- 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup: Fourth Place
References
- ↑ "Gilles Sunu". Foot-National.com.
- 1 2 "Arsenal sign teenager Sunu". Telegraph.co.uk..
- ↑ "Player Review: Gilles Sunu". Arsenal.com..
- ↑ "Arsenal 2–0 West Brom". BBC.co.uk.
- ↑ "Match: Olympiakos v Arsenal – UEFA Champions League". Soccernet.ESPN.go.com.
- ↑ "Gilles Sunu joins Derby County on loan". arsenal.com.
- ↑ Reading 4–1 Derby, bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
- ↑ "Sunu returns to Arsenal". DCFC.co.uk..
- ↑ "Sunu: 'I've missed playing football". Arsenal.com..
- ↑ "Sunu joins Lorient on loan". Arsenal.com..
- ↑ "Match: Caen v Lorient – Ligue 1". Soccernet.Espn.go.com..
- ↑ "Report: Lens v Lorient – French Ligue 1". Soccernet.Espn.go.com..
- ↑ "Ligue1.com – French Football League – Player profile Gilles SUNU". Ligue1.com. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
- ↑ "Lorient keen to keep Gunners". Patrick Haond. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
- ↑ "Arsenal's Sunu signs for Lorient". football.co.uk. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
- ↑ "Ligue1.com – French Football League – Ligue 1 – Season 2011/2012 – Week 5 – FC Sochaux-Montbéliard / FC Lorient". Ligue 1. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-31.
- ↑ "Statistics: Lorient v AC Ajaccio". Soccernet.ESPN.go.com. ESPN. 6 November 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ↑ "Match Stats: Le Mans FC – FC Lorient". Ligue 1.com. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
- ↑ "Hosts France celebrate Caen success – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-31.
- ↑ "FFF : Equipe de France, football, Bleus, Laurent Blanc, émotion bleue, vidéo, fiche, boutique". FFF. 13 June 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
- ↑ "G. Sunu". Soccerway. Global Sports Media. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
