Gilles Christ Sunu (born 30 March 1991) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a winger for

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, ...

club

Châteauroux Châteauroux (; ; oc, Chasteurós) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate ...

. He has featured for clubs such as Arsenal,

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

Évian Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year. Today, Evia ...

, and

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

. Born in France, Sunu represents

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

internationally.

Career

Sunu was born in

, Indre. He began his career at the LB Châteauroux academy, but moved to Arsenal in July 2007 on a four-year contract for a fee between £700,000 and £1 million.. At Arsenal whilst playing for the club's academy, Sunu won the FA Youth Cup of 2009 beating

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

by 6–2 on aggregate in both legs of the final. He was also victorious in winning the

Premier Academy League The Premier Academy League (sometimes abbreviated as FAPAL) was the top level of youth football in England before it was to be replaced by a new league proposed by the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012, which was accepted by the 72 member ...

of 2009 thus helping the club towards an historic youth double.

Arsenal

2009–10 season

Gilles had an impressive first half of the season with

Arsenal Reserves Arsenal Football Club Academy is the youth system of Arsenal Football Club based in Hale End, London, England. It is often referred to as Hale End eponymously by the club, sports media, and fans. The academy teams play in the Professional Dev ...

, making nine appearances and scoring four goals. He made his first team debut for the club when he started a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

on 22 September 2009, playing 58 minutes before being substituted for

Carlos Vela Carlos Alberto Vela Garrido (born 1 March 1989) is a Mexican professional footballer who captains and plays for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Described as a versatile player who can play as a forward, winger, and attacking midfield ...

. On 9 December 2009, Sunu made his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

debut in Arsenal's 1–0 away defeat to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, coming on for

Jack Wilshere Jack Andrew Garry Wilshere (born 1 January 1992) is an English football coach and former professional player who played as a midfielder. He is the current head coach of the Arsenal U18s. Wilshere came up through Arsenal's youth academy and i ...

on 76 minutes.

Loan to Derby County

On 18 February 2010, Sunu signed for

on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season. He made his debut for the Rams as a first-half substitute in a 1–0 defeat to Swansea City, coming on for the injured

Kris Commons Kristian Arran Commons (born 30 August 1983) is an English-born Scottish professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Commons started his career at Stoke City and made his debut in 2000. After four years with the club, he rej ...

before being later substituted on the 85-minute. Sunu scored his first goal in a 4–1 defeat away to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

on 10 March 2010. After

Stephen Pearson Stephen Paul Pearson (born 2 October 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He began his career at Motherwell and joined Celtic in 2004, where he won domestic honours including two Scottish Premier League ...

and

Rob Hulse Robert William Hulse (born 25 October 1979) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He had primarily spent his career at second tier level, playing there with Crewe Alexandra, West Bromwich Albion, Leeds United, Sheffield Un ...

worked a smart one-two on the left side of the area and when Pearson was halted by a challenge, Sunu poked the loose ball past goalkeeper

Adam Federici Adam Jay Federici (born 31 January 1985) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Federici began his senior career at Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2003, but was only there briefly and soon switched to Torres. Af ...

from the edge of the area. In total, Sunu made nine appearances for Derby before returning to Arsenal slightly earlier than intended after picking up an injury in Derby's penultimate game of the season away to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

2010–11 season

After scoring in the final of the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in July, Gilles suffered a cartilage injury in his right knee that would keep him out of action for two months. Sunu made his comeback for the Arsenal Reserves against Blackpool at the end of September and went on to make eight appearances, scoring twice.

Lorient

On 31 January 2011, Sunu opted to join

on loan for the remainder of the 2010–11 campaign. He made his debut for ''Les Merlus'' as a second-half substitute in the 2–0 victory over Caen. Gilles created his first assist in the 3–2 away victory to

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

. After rounding Lens goalkeeper

Vedran Runje Vedran Runje (; born 10 February 1976) is a Croatian retired association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. A product of Hajduk Split academy, Runje spent the majority of his career abroad with St ...

, Sunu flicked the ball back from the byline for

Kevin Gameiro Kevin Dominique Gameiro (born 9 May 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Strasbourg. He is a strong striker who is known for his clinical finishing, which compensates for his relatively light frame. ...

to head in from five yards to make the score 2–2. Gilles completed his loan at Lorient making nine appearances, all from the substitutes' bench.

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

reported that Lorient manager Christian Gourcuff was keen to re-sign Sunu as well as his Arsenal teammate

Francis Coquelin Francis Joseph Coquelin (; born 13 May 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Spanish club Villarreal. He has also featured for Valencia, Arsenal, Lorient, SC Freiburg and Charlton Athletic in his care ...

on an additional year's loan, with Sunu hinting that he would welcome a return to the seaport town. FC Lorient - June 27th 2013 training - Gilles Sunu

Gilles Sunu signed a four-year contract with Lorient on 31 August 2011, just three days after being an unused substitute in Arsenal's heavy 8–2 defeat to Manchester United. Sunu made his full debut for Lorient in the 1–1 away draw against

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy S ...

, coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute for

Arnold Mvuemba Arnold Mvuemba Makengo (born 28 January 1985) is a French-Congolese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Roeselare in the Belgian First Division B. Club career Mvuemba was born in Alençon, Orne, France. He was signed by Premi ...

. On 6 November 2011, Sunu scored his first goal for Lorient and made an assist in the 2–0 home win against Ajaccio. Sunu went past his man and cut the ball back for

Yann Jouffre Yann Jouffre (; born 23 July 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Nîmes, Guingamp, Lorient and FC Metz. Club career Born in Montélimar, Drôme, Jouffre made his professional debut for Nîmes Olympi ...

to score from outside the box. Before Jouffre turned provider and played Sunu in on goal with only the keeper to beat. Sunu scored his second goal of the season in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de la Ligue of 2012 in the 1–0 away victory to Le Mans. Gilles beat Le Mans goalkeeper Giorgi Makaridze at the near post on the 70th minute after coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute for

Innocent Emeghara Innocent Nkasiobi Emeghara (born 27 May 1989) is a retired Swiss professional footballer who played most commonly as a striker. Club career Born in Lagos, Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ...

Évian

Sunu moved in January 2015 to the Parc des Sports so as to join up with that of

in a one and a half year deal. He in all played 10 matches for Les Roses, scoring three goals altogether.

Angers SCO

Sunu went on to leave Evian in the summer of that year so as to link up with fellow Ligue 1 team

Angers SCO Angers Sporting Club de l'Ouest, commonly referred to as Angers SCO or simply Angers (), is a French professional football club based in Angers in Pays de la Loire in western France. The club was founded in 1919 and plays in Ligue 1, the first ...

International career

Sunu is a French youth international having earned caps for the under-17s, under-18s, under-19s, under-20s and under-21s. He served as captain throughout the 2008–09 season for the under-19s. During the final of the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, Sunu equalised against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

to put France on course for a 2–1 victory. Sunu was named in France under-20's final 21-man squad that competed at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He started all seven of France's world cup games, scoring two goals in total as France finished fourth in Colombia. In September 2018 he switched his international allegiance to Togo, the country of his father

Manu Manu may refer to: Geography * Manú Province, a province of Peru, in the Madre de Dios Region **Manú National Park, Peru ** Manú River, in southeastern Peru * Manu River (Tripura), which originates in India and flows into Bangladesh *Manu Tem ...

. He made his debut for the

Togo national football team The Togo national football team (French: Équipe nationale de football du Togo) represents Togo in international football and is controlled by the Togolese Football Federation. The national football team of Togo made their debut in the FIFA Worl ...

in a 1–1 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification tie with

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

on 12 October 2018.

Personal life

Sunu is the son of former Togolese international

Manu Sunu Emmanuel Sunu Songo'o (born 17 March 1966), commonly known as Manu Sunu, is a Togolese former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder for ASKO Kara and Gomido and internationally for Togo. Due to an injury sustained at the age of 34, M ...

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Togo's goal tally first.''

Honours

Arsenal * FA Youth Cup: 2008–09 *

: 2008–09 France U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

: 2010

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sunu, Gilles 1991 births Living people People from Châteauroux Sportspeople from Indre French footballers France youth international footballers France under-21 international footballers Citizens of Togo through descent Togolese footballers Togo international footballers Association football wingers LB Châteauroux players Arsenal F.C. players Derby County F.C. players FC Lorient players Thonon Evian Grand Genève FC players Angers SCO players Büyükşehir Belediye Erzurumspor footballers English Football League players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players Süper Lig players TFF First League players French expatriate footballers Togolese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Turkey French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Togolese expatriate sportspeople in England Togolese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey French sportspeople of Togolese descent Footballers from Centre-Val de Loire