Gelson Fernandes

Infobox Football biography
playername = Gelson Fernandes


fullname = Gelson Fernandes
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1986|9|2
cityofbirth = Praia
countryofbirth = Cape Verde Islands
height = height|ft=6|in=0
currentclub = Manchester City
clubnumber = 19
position = Midfielder
youthyears = 1995–2004
youthclubs = FC Sion
years = 2004–2007
2007–
clubs = FC Sion
Manchester City
caps(goals) = 99 (1)
30 (3)
nationalyears =
2007–
nationalteam = Switzerland U21
Switzerland
nationalcaps(goals) = 04 (0)
12 (0)
pcupdate = 12:51, 23 September 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 23:55, 19 September 2008 (UTC) Gelson Fernandes (born 2 September, 1986 in Praia) is a Swiss football midfielder born in the Cape Verde islands [ [http://www.footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=6388&pn=Gelson_Fernandes Fernandes at footballdatabase.com] ] who plays for Manchester City in the English Premier League, as well as the Swiss national team.

Career

He signed for Manchester City from FC Sion on 14 July 2007 for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around 6 million euros (£4.2m), which would make his sale the second highest transfer in the history of the Swiss League.Fact|date=March 2008 Following his signing, City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson commented that he thought Fernandes was the "best young player in Switzerland." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/6898972.stm Man City seal Fernandes transfer ] ] He made his full debut in the 0-0 draw against Portsmouth. Gelson was also called up to the senior Switzerland national football squad to face the Netherlands on 22 August 2007. He also played in the friendly defeat to England.

His first goal for Man City came in a 2–0 victory against Newcastle United after coming on as a substitute. It took just 40 seconds for Fernandes and Kelvin Etuhu to combine for the former to finish from the edge of the box. Gelson scored his second goal in the 1–3 loss to Arsenal at the City of Manchester Stadium. Vedran Corluka took advantage of a Gael Clichy defensive error, who slipped in a pass into the 6 yard box for Gelson to tuck home. The goal was not enough to secure any points for Manchester City, but showed the City Fans that he was also capable of having an eye for goal like fellow youth midfielder, Michael Johnson.

He has since scored twice in the 08/09 season with goals against Brighton and the final goal in the 6-0 thrashing of Portsmouth.

According to Manchester City teammate Micah Richards, he is fluent in five languages. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7022895.stm Micah Richard's talks about his teammates] ]

Honours

* Swiss Cup 2006

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=46651|name=Gelson Fernandes
* [http://www.4thegame.com/club/manchester-city-fc/player-profile/38042/gelsonfernandes.html Profile on 4thegame.com]