Gaël Givet

Gaël Givet-Viaros (born 9 October 1981) is a French footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers. Givet is a left-footed centre back who can also play left-back.

Club career

Monaco

Born in Arles, France, Givet started his professional career at AS Monaco as a left back before moving to centre half. He made his debut in a 2–2 draw against Guingamp in December 2000. He played for Monaco between 2000 and 2007, making 178 league appearances and scoring a respectable 8 goals. The highlights of his time at the club were winning the French League Cup in 2003 and reaching the UEFA Champions League Final in 2004, where he missed out on a winner's medal with a 3–0 defeat against Jose Mourinho's FC Porto. He played a pivotal role in their success, making 13 Champions League appearances during the campaign. He made a name for himself in the 2003/04 season where he blossomed in the Monaco defense with the likes of Manchester United's Patrice Evra, Olympique de Marseille's Julien Rodriguez and Arsenal's Sébastien Squillaci.

Marseille

After a successful career at Monaco, Givet moved to Marseille. During the 2007–08 season he featured 29 times in the French league and made 9 appearances in the UEFA Champions League. However at the beginning of the next season he found his opportunities limited in the first team.

Blackburn Rovers

On 10 January 2009, L'Equipe reported that Givet would be flying to England to finalize a six-month loan deal with English club Blackburn Rovers on 12...
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