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Charles N'Zogbia

Personal information
Full name	Charles N'Zogbia
Date of birth	May 28, 1986 (1986-05-28) (age 23)
Place of birth	Harfleur, France
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Left back, Left winger
Club information
Current club	Wigan Athletic
Number	14
Youth career
2002–2004	Le Havre
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2009	Newcastle United	118	(9)
2009–	Wigan Athletic	43	(5)
National team‡
2007–2009	France U-21	13	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:18, 17 March 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 01:21, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Charles N'Zogbia (born 28 May 1986 in Harfleur, France) is a professional French footballer of Congolese descent currently playing for the English Premier League club Wigan Athletic. He joined the team in 2009 from Newcastle United.

He plays primarily as a left winger, but can also play as an attacking midfielder or a left back.

N'Zogbia was capped for the France national under-21 football team on thirteen occasions.

Early life

N'Zogbia was born in Harfleur, in the Seine-Maritime department of Normandy, but was brought up in Paris in an apartment close to the Stade de France.^[1] His second cousin is the professional tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.^[2]

Club career

N'Zogbia began his career at the academy of Le Havre. When he was 17, he was spotted by former chief scout of Newcastle United, Charlie Woods, who arranged for him to have a trial at the club.^[1] After training with Newcastle for a month,^[3] he impressed the club and they were keen to sign him. However, his transfer to Newcastle proved controversial. Le Havre had tied him to an educational contract, but Newcastle claimed that the player had freedom of contract to move on a free transfer, an assertion which FIFA supported.

Newcastle United

N'Zogbia in training

After a protracted saga involving the threat of a case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Newcastle eventually paid a nominal fee in the region of £250,000 to sign N'Zogbia from Le Havre, for compensation on youth development cost. His transfer to Newcastle officially went through on 2 September 2004, the last player to be signed by the late Sir Bobby Robson. Robson later said of him: "N'Zogbia could go to the very top with the right coaching and motivation, and I hope it is with Newcastle. I signed him as a teenager and he was one of the most naturally gifted players of that age I'd ever seen."^[4]

N'Zogbia was an instant hit on Tyneside. He developed cult status at Newcastle, where he earned the nickname 'Zog',^[5] with supporters chanting Zog on the Tyne (in reference to the Lindisfarne song Fog on the Tyne), in appreciation to his contribution to the team.^[6]

His debut for the club came in a 3–0 win over Blackburn Rovers on 11 September 2004.^[7] In the 2005–06 season, N'Zogbia established himself as a first-team regular, appearing in 41 matches. He scored Newcastle's first goal of the season in the 1–1 draw at home to Fulham, with a skilful free kick.^[8] He further displayed his goalscoring ability with 6 goals in total that season, including a solo effort in the 4–1 win over fierce rivals Sunderland.^[9] He was the fourth highest goal scorers for Newcastle in the 2005-06 season and also contributed seven assists. This good form attracted interest from clubs such as Arsenal but he signed a three-year contract extension for Newcastle at the end of the season.

He found himself playing less regularly during the 2006–07, under new club manager, Glenn Roeder, who favoured Damien Duff over N'Zogbia. He also missed matches due to an injury sustained during the 1–0 defeat to Chelsea on 13 December 2006 and did not return until late February 2007. He was left out of the Newcastle squad on 13 May 2007 for the final game of the season against Watford, after he refused to be used as a substitute.^[10]

Despite rumours that N'Zogbia would leave Newcastle during the summer,^[11] he stayed at the club and was named in the starting line-up in the opening game against Bolton Wanderers. He repaid new manager Sam Allardyce's trust in him by scoring the opening goal of the game, which Newcastle won 3–1.^[12] On September 4, 2007 he signed a new 5-year contract, keeping him at the club until 2012.^[13]

In December 2008, N'Zogbia announced his desire to leave Newcastle during the January 2009 transfer window, saying "After four years at Newcastle, I want to reach a higher level of ambition. I don't think that is possible here."^[14] On 29 January 2009, following a 2-1 away loss to Manchester City FC, Newcastle United FC manager Joe Kinnear angered N'Zogbia mispronouncing his name as insomnia. The following day, in a press release to (Sky Sports News), N'Zogbia announced he would not play for the club again under their current manager.^[15] He made an apology to the club's fans, but reiterated his desire to leave the club.^[16]

Wigan Athletic

On 30 January 2009, just hours ahead of the transfer deadline, Newcastle agreed a £6 million fee with Wigan Athletic for N'Zogbia. The deal involved Ryan Taylor moving to the other way to St James Park.^[17][18]

N'Zogbia scored his first league goal with a run beginning from behind the halfway-line for Wigan in the 1-2 away victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.^[19]

International career

N'Zogbia played twice for the France under-16 national side in 2002. In the summer of 2006, he was selected for the France under-21 24-man provisional squad for the European Under-21 Football Championship in Portugal. However, because of an ongoing dispute between Newcastle, Le Havre and the French FA concerning his move to The Magpies, the French coach had no choice but to leave him out of the final squad.

After impressive form for Newcastle in September 2007, he was called up to the France under-21 team. He made his debut for France under-21 on September 7, 2007 in a 1-0 victory over Wales. Congo DR had called up N'Zogbia to play for them against the France 'B' Team in February 2008, but N'Zogbia had declined the invitation so that he could have more time to think about his international football future.

In early 2010, after gaining U.K. residency, N'Zogbia expressed an interest in playing for England.

Career statistics

As of 17 January 2009.

References

External links

• Charles N'Zogbia career stats at Soccerbase
• Charles N'Zogbia official Wigan Athletic site profile
• Charles N'Zogbia NUFC official site profile