| DJIBRIL CISSE PROFILE
by Dave Usher
Date of Birth - 12/08/81
Nationality - French
Position - Forward
Cost - £14m
Games - 79
Goals - 24
Club Hons (Lpool) - 2005 Champions League, 2006 Super Cup, 2006 FA Cup
Club Hons (Other) - None
Intnl Hons - French Caps
Other Clubs - Auxerre, Marseille |
Extrovert French star Cisse became the club's record signing when he ended one of the longest running transfer saga's in history and finally put pen to paper on a Liverpool contract on July 1 2004. Liverpool had been tracking the Auxerre starlet for three years, and his arrival at the club was a long time coming indeed. The deal had been set up two years before, but Auxerre insisted the player remain with them until they were ready to release him.
Gerard Houllier had worked harder than anyone to set up the deal, but he would not reap the rewards as he was replaced by Rafael Benitez before having the chance to work with the much sought after Cisse. Rarely has a player seemed more keen to come to Liverpool than Cisse, who regularly spoke of how much he was looking forward to pulling on the red shirt, and turned down advances from some of Europe's top clubs because 'Liverpool wanted me first and I gave them my word.'
Devastatingly quick with a powerful shot, Cisse finished his last season in France as the league's top scorer, but missed out on the French squad for Euro 2004 through a suspension picked up whilst on under 21 duty. His first appearance for the reds came in a friendly at Wrexham, and his first goals arrived a few days later in a 5-1 thrashing of Celtic in the USA. He made a dream start to his first league game for the club, scoring at White Hart Lane in the 1-1 draw with Spurs on the opening day of the season, but after that he struggled to make much of an impression.
Further goals came against Monaco and Norwich, but a horriffic leg break at Ewood Park looked to have ended his season in October. However, the young Frenchman defied medical opinion and was back remarkably back playing within five months. He came off the bench in Turin to help the reds edge past Juventus, and was involved in every game after that all the way through to the Champions League Final in Istanbul, where he coolly converted a penalty in the shoot out.
The following season was a frustrating one for Djibril, as he found himself in and out of the side and was often used as a makeshift wideman. Despite the uncertainty surrounding his place, he still managed to find the net regularly. His all round game failed to convince however, with the FA Cup final providing the perfect example of how Cisse could go from the sublime to the ridiculous in the space of 90 minutes.
He scored a stunning volley in that game to help get the reds back into the game, but aside from that contribution the only thing of note he will be remembered for in the game was his awful choice of footwear.
His place at club level may not have been assured, but in the build up to the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, it looked like Cisse had managed to nail down a place in the French starting line up. He lined up alongside Thierry Henry in France's final warm up game, but another sickening leg break would rule him out of the competition.
He joined Marseille on a year long loan that summer, and completed a permanent move back to France the following summer.
