Johan Djourou Biography
Johan Djourou (born Danon Issouf Johannes Djourou Gbadjere) is a Swiss international footballer born on 18 January 1987 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. He plays as a defender for Italian Serie A club SPAL and Switzerland national football team
He enrolled at the Payerne Training Center when he was 13 and then in 2002 joined local second division side Étoile Carouge as a midfielder at 15.
He joined Arsenal on 1 August 2003. Djourou made his first senior start for Arsenal against Everton in the League Cup, having made his first appearance after 89 minutes of the corresponding match in the previous round against Manchester City on 27 October 2004. He made his full Premiership debut for Arsenal against Middlesbrough on 14 January 2006, playing at centre-back, going on to play a number of times in the next two seasons before a loan spell with Birmingham City.
Johan Djourou made 144 appearances during his 10 seasons with Arsenal – primarily at the heart of the back four but also in the right-back and defensive midfield positions.
The defender returned to Arsenal as first-choice backup following the loan departure of Philippe Senderos to AC Milan, and had a chance to break into the first team when Kolo Toure joined Manchester City.
However, Johan Djourou suffered a knee injury that saw him miss eight months, and fall behind Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny and Mikael Silvestre in the pecking order, leading to him joining Hannover on loan for the second half of the 2012/13 season.
The defender then joined another Bundesliga club, Hamburg, on loan for the following campaign before joining permanently at the end of the season-long spell.
Johan Djourou Age
Djourou was born on 18 January 1987 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (31 years as of 2018)
Johan Djourou Current Teams
- Switzerland national football team (#20 / Defender)
- S.P.A.L. (#3 / Defender)
Johan Djourou Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of 5 milliom euros.
Johan Djourou Parents
Johan Djourou biological parents are Ivorian, Joachim and Angeline. His father was married to a Swiss woman, Daniele, who later adopted him.
Djourou says. “My dad is Ivorian and he was married to a Swiss lady, called Danielle, and they lived together in Geneva. But he went to Ivory Coast and he had this thing with my biological mother, Angeline, so that’s where I came from.
“Danielle could not have kids and my father said to her: ‘Look, I had this thing … my son was born, I made a mistake,’ and she just said to him: ‘Let’s bring him here and we can adopt him.’ My dad was in contact with my natural mother. So at the age of 18 months, I moved from Abidjan to Geneva.
“I have two mothers, which for me is great. It has given me so much and I have to say that without my adoptive mum I would maybe not be here. When you are in Africa there are a lot more difficulties and I was lucky enough to escape that. Other players like [Emmanuel] Eboué and Kolo Touré have made it through there but when you are European you have more options.
“Danielle is an amazing woman. There is a lot of jealousy in the world today and many people wouldn’t accept those situations but she just took it in her stride and made the best of it. She had been betrayed but she did something so great to bring me in.”
Johan Djourou Wife and Children
Johan Djourou is married to Emilie Djourou. They have three daughters Aliany Djourou, Lou Djourou
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Johan Djourou Arsenal
On 1st August 2003 he joined Arsenal making his first senior start for Arsenal in a 3–1 victory against Everton in the League Cup, having made his first appearance after 89 minutes of the corresponding match in the previous round against Manchester City on 27 October 2004.
On 14th January 2006 he made his full premiership debut for Arsenal in the 7–0 victory over Middlesbrough.Djourou started Arsenal’s FA Cup fourth round clash with Bolton Wanderers as part of a makeshift defence, a game in which Arsenal lost 1–0. He had also played in the third round clash with Cardiff City.
In February 2006, Djourou played in the league games against West Ham United, Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers. In April 2006 he came on as a substitute against Aston Villa in Arsenal’s 5–0 victory, replacing the injured Emmanuel Eboué. He started April’s premiership game against Portsmouth, a game which also saw the comeback of Sol Campbell. During this season, several Italian clubs (including Juventus) scouted Djourou in Arsenal’s reserve matches (his contract was to expire at the end of the 2006–07 season), but after the end of the World Cup, he signed a six-year contract extension with Arsenal.
He played in Arsenal’s 2007 pre-season Emirates Cup win, against both Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.
In March 2010, Djourou appeared on Arsenal TV Online’s ‘Arsenal Live’ programme. He announced that he was getting closer to a return: “I am nearly at the end. It has been a long road for me and I am really looking forward to being back on the field.” He made his return from injury as a second-half substitute in the 4–0 win over Fulham in Arsenal’s final game of the season. Djourou replaced the injured Mikaël Silvestre and this was his only appearance in the 2009–10 campaign.
During the 2011–12 season, he started 19 times for Arsenal and made 8 substitute appearances.
Johan Djourou International career
He was a member of the Swiss under-19 squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2004 European Championships. He made his senior Switzerland international debut against Scotland on 1 March 2006. Djourou was called up to the Switzerland 2006 FIFA World Cup squad, despite not playing in the qualifiers.
He scored his first goal for Switzerland against Japan in 2007. He scored his second international goal against San Marino, converting a penalty kick. He was included in the Switzerland national football team 23 man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Johan Djourou Transfer
| MV | Fee | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 850 Th. € | Free Transfer | ||
| 1,50 Mill. € | Free Transfer | ||
| 3,00 Mill. € | 2,80 Mill. € | ||
| 3,00 Mill. € | End of loan | ||
| 5,00 Mill. € | Loan | ||
| 5,00 Mill. € | End of loan | ||
| 6,00 Mill. € | Loan fee: 400 Th. € |
||
| 3,50 Mill. € | End of loan | ||
| 3,60 Mill. € | Loan | ||
| – | – | ||
| – | – | ||
| – | – |
Johan Djourou Stats
| 2018 | Friendly | Switzerland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 |
| 2018 | WC Qual. | Switzerland | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 630 |
| 2017-18 | Turkish SL | Antalyaspor | 18 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1515 |
| 2016-17 | Bundesliga | Hamburg SV | 14 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1142 |
| 2016 | Euro Cup | Switzerland | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 390 |
| 2016 | Euro Qual | Switzerland | 8 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 720 |
| 2016 | DFB Pokal | Hamburg SV | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 180 |
| 2016 | Friendly | Switzerland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 84 |
| 2015-16 | Bundesliga | Hamburg SV | 26 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2293 |
| 2015 | DFB Pokal | Hamburg SV | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 120 |
| 2014-15 | Bundesliga | Hamburg SV | 32 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2805 |
| 2014 | World Cup | Switzerland | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 390 |
| 2014 | Friendly | Switzerland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 91 |
| 2013-14 | Bundesliga | Hamburg SV | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1894 |
| Season | Competition | Team | GP | GS | G | PKG | YC | RC | MP |
|---|
Johan Djourou News: Roman Bürki becomes Tdh’s new ambassador
Source: Terre des hommes (Tdh)
Update: 20.03.2018
Swiss goalkeeper Roman Bürki has committed to helping children by becoming an ambassador for Terre des hommes (Tdh), Switzerland’s largest child aid organisation. The footballer will visit Romania in May to support projects helping to integrate young people through sport.
The Swiss footballer Roman Bürki was in Zürich yesterday to sign a contract with Tdh: from spring onwards, he will be one of Tdh’s ambassadors. The 27-year-old believes that simple measures can help change children’s lives for the better.
“This is the perfect role for me. I love working with children. I’ve always enjoyed playing with them. Putting a smile on their face makes me happy. I want to give them my support so they can grow up in a protected environment,” said Bürki, who is currently the goalkeeper for the Borussia Dortmund club.
Sport teaches children a range of skills, helping them to thrive. Not only does sport give children an opportunity to play games, have fun and be physically active, it helps them learn how to cooperate, respect rules and communicate. Sport is central to the psychosocial support activities that Tdh runs for children.
“Sport helps build relationships. Just like other sports, football has its own language. You immediately understand, whether or not you’re part of the team. For me, this is an important part of childhood – being able to build relationships no matter where you come from,” explained Bürki.
In May, he will travel to Romania to find out about Tdh’s work with Roma and migrant children. In difficult social contexts, football is an excellent way of encouraging social integration and reconstruction.
“I’m really looking forward to this trip. I hope I can help change things,” he said.