Gael Clichy reveals one player who helped him ‘a lot’ at Arsenal, they still speak today

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Former Arsenal defender Gael Clichy has now revealed the one player who really helped him settle in north London.

Gael Clichy arrived at Arsenal from French outfit Cannes in the summer of 2003.

It will have been a huge cultural shift for the teenager to move to North London and adapt to life at a Premier League club having previously plied his trade in the third tier of French football.

Arsene Wenger was hugely supportive of Clichy in his early days at Arsenal, and gave him chances to prove his worth on the pitch. The 20-cap former France international eventually established himself at Highbury, and made the move with the club to the Emirates Stadium.

By the time he moved on to join Manchester City in 2011, he had made 264 appearances for the Gunners across all competitions.

Wenger was often encouraging of young talents in his time as Arsenal boss, and it was a fellow young Frenchman on the books at Arsenal who helped Clichy to feel at home at the club. 

Gael Clichy opens up about friendship with Jeremie Aliadiere

Jeremie Aliadiere joined the Arsenal academy as a 16-year-old in 1999. He was a member of the first-team squad by the time Clichy joined the club. Whilst they were both rotational players, both Aliadiere and Clichy played enough matches in the 2003/04 campaign to earn Premier League winner’s medals as part of the Invincibles squad.

However, the striker was never able to establish himself as a starter for the Gunners, and moved on in 2007, having made 51 senior appearances for Arsenal in total, across all competitions. He found the back of the net nine times overall, but only once in 29 Premier League outings.

In an interview with Arsenal’s official website, Clichy has now lifted the lid on his relationship with Aliadiere. The ex-left-back said, “obviously there were difficult moments, because I was living on my own and had to learn how to cook and things like that, and during that time I would say Jeremie Aliadiere helped me a lot. We were close in age and we spent a lot of time together. I am still in touch with him a lot 20 years later. But I must say I love what I do so much, that you could have taken me anywhere in the world, and no matter how tough it was, I would have been driven to succeed.”

How players are welcomed to Arsenal now

Mikel Arteta has now built a youthful squad of his own at Arsenal. Four Hale End academy graduates, namely Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe, and Reiss Nelson, are part of his first-team group at the Emirates Stadium. As those four have practically grown up together at Arsenal, they will all share a close bond. 

Efforts are made to help new arrivals settle, though. Oleksandr Zinchenko played a big part in helping Jakub Kiwior to feel at home at Arsenal. Ben White has also taken responsibility for letting youth players know what it expected of them at senior level, as reported by The Athletic.