Geremi Sorele Njitap Fotso (born 20 December 1978), known simply as Geremi, is a Cameroonian former footballer. He was a versatile player able to play at right back, right midfield or defensive midfielder, known for his power, pace, combative style and free-kick ability.
.png) Geremi with Newcastle United in 2009
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Geremi Sorele Njitap Fotso | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 20 December 1978 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bafoussam, Cameroon | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Right back, midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Racing Bafoussam | 28 | (5) | |||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Cerro Porteño | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | Gençlerbirliği | 57 | (9) | |||||||||||
| 1999–2003 | Real Madrid | 45 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | → Middlesbrough (loan) | 33 | (7) | |||||||||||
| 2003–2007 | Chelsea | 72 | (4) | |||||||||||
| 2007–2009 | Newcastle United | 49 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2010 | Ankaragücü | 12 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | AEL | 10 | (0) | |||||||||||
| Total | 312 | (29) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–2010 | Cameroon | 118 | (13) | |||||||||||
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Medal record
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The most successful periods of Geremi’s club career came at Real Madrid and Chelsea, winning the UEFA Champions League with the first and domestic honours with the latter.
Geremi earned 118 caps for Cameroon from 1996 to 2010, scoring 13 goals. He was a member of their squad for seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, winning in 2000 and 2002, as well as the World Cup in 2002 and 2010 and a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics
Early career
Geremi was born in Bafoussam, Cameroon. Raised into a footballing family, Geremi was encouraged to remain focused on school by his father, a former player. But as duties for his club and national teams pulled him away from his studies, he eventually decided to pursue his playing career. Geremi gave up on studying for his university entrance exams and began playing professionally.
Geremi began his career with a local side in Bafoussam, Racing FC, in 1995. A first-division club in the Cameroon’s MTN Elite One, Racing had won the league championship the year before 16-year-old Geremi arrived and won the league cup, the Cameroonian Cup, in his only season as a professional at the club.
Cerro Porteño
In 1996, Geremi received an offer from Cerro Porteño, which he took, after being scouted whilst playing for the Cameroon U21 national team in Brazil. Before Geremi arrived at Cerro Porteño, agent Pedro Aldave picked between Samuel Eto’o and Geremi to go to Paraguay and join the Asunción club. Geremi was 18 when he arrived at the club.
In 1997, Geremi was teammates with compatriot Cyrille Florent Bella, the Uruguayan Ricardo Bitancort, Brazilian Felippe Ximenes, and Paraguayans Diego Gavilán, Jorge Martín Núñez, Paulo da Silva, Aldo Bobadilla and Roberto Fernández in Cerro Porteño’s team. Geremi was the star of the title decider in Paraguay’s 1997 Apertura Tournament, which Cerro Porteño lost.
He only disputed one tournament with Cerro Porteño during six months at the club, reportedly not adapting to Paraguayan football before emprending to travel to Turkey. Six months was enough for him to jump to European football. Geremi mentioned that in Paraguay he was too far from his family and wished to go to European football. He received an offer from Turkey, and immediately signed.
Gençlerbirliği
Geremi spent two seasons in Turkey with Gençlerbirliği, racking up 57 appearances, before a move to Real Madrid materialised for him. In Geremi’s first season at Gençlerbirligi in 1997/98, he was teammates with compatriot Tobie Mimboe, who was also a footballer at Cerro Porteño before this.
Real Madrid
In his three years at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Geremi won two Champions League winners medals with the Spanish giants. He scored two goals whilst at Madrid; his first was a late winner in a 2000 FIFA Club World Championship tie against Raja Casablanca after his side had been reduced to eight men. His second came against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League. At Real Madrid, Geremi was nominated for the Ballon d’Or of 2000. In a tribute to Geremi, four years after he left the club, former Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque told Spanish newspaper Marca, that Njitap and Steve McManaman were the two most important players in his squad, because “together they kept the whole team united”.
Seeking more regular football, Geremi moved to Middlesbrough for the 2002–03 season on a season-long loan from Real Madrid, where he enjoyed a successful season.
In 2003, a sentence from FIFA obliged Cerro Porteño to pay Geremi US$450,000.
Chelsea
After an impressive FIFA Confederations Cup campaign with Cameroon, Chelsea paid Real Madrid £6.9 million for him in July 2003, and he went on to have an excellent first season at Stamford Bridge. Although towards the end of his career at Chelsea, under José Mourinho he was played less regularly and when he was played he was put in his unpreferred position of right-back. Geremi, however, was held in high regard by Mourinho. During an interview, he said about Geremi, “In my team I love to have Geremi on the bench because he’s a low-profile player who is ready to help, ready to fight for the team, ready to do the job I want him to do. If I need him to play right-back, he can play right-back. If I need him to play right-winger, he can play right-winger. If I need him to pick up a man and mark him out of the game, he does it.” In his final year at Chelsea, Geremi scored the winning goal in a home match against West Ham United, a long-range free-kick. This turned out to be his last goal in a Chelsea shirt. His final appearance for Chelsea came against Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final second leg, which went to penalties. Geremi came on as an extra-time substitute and went on to have his penalty saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, and Chelsea ultimately lost.
Personal Life
Geremi’s father, Samuel, is a former footballer and Cameroon international in the 1970s. Samuel, a striker, was nicknamed “Poison Arrow” for his powerful shot and free-kicks. Geremi’s father was allowed five wives due to his status as a footballer, and Geremi has 17 siblings in Cameroon.
Geremi’s cousin, Pierre Webó, was also a professional footballer, and played alongside Geremi for Cameroon at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Geremi speaks English, Spanish and Turkish
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