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Geremi Sorele Njitap Fotso (born 20 December 1978), known simply as Geremi, is a Cameroonian former professional 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.
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.
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.
In 1997, Geremi was teammates with compatriot Cyrille Florent Bella, the Ricardo Bitancort, Felippe Ximenes, and 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 UEFA football. He received an offer from Turkey, and immediately signed.
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.
During his time at Chelsea, the club won the Premier League in both 2004–05 and 2005–06, and Geremi was eligible for a winners' medal both seasons as he made 13 and 15 appearances respectively.
Geremi made his Newcastle debut on the opening day of the 2007–08 FA Premier League season in a 3–1 away win over Bolton Wanderers, going on to start the next six games for Newcastle before being an unused substitute in the EFL Cup third round defeat at Arsenal.
In January 2008, Geremi departed for the 2008 African Cup of Nations with Cameroon. He returned to Newcastle in February after Cameroon finished as runners-up. His first game since returning was on 23 February in a 5–1 away defeat to Manchester United. His first start since returning came on 17 March 2008 in a 1–1 draw away at Birmingham City.
Geremi scored his first goal for Newcastle in a 4–1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 30 March with a well-taken free-kick and the second a header in the 2–2 draw at Boleyn Ground on 26 April against West Ham. Geremi made 27 league appearances for Newcastle United during his first season at the club, starting 24 of the 27 league games and scoring on two occasions, with five assists.
In the 2009–10 season, Geremi's minutes dropped even more dramatically, with only three league starts in the first five months of the season. He scored his third Newcastle goal – and first of the 2009–10 club season – in a League Cup match against Huddersfield Town on 26 August 2009. Geremi left Newcastle in the 2010 January transfer window to join Turkish club MKE Ankaragücü. Shortly after, however, Newcastle said the deal had not been finalized and the player remained at Newcastle. On transfer deadline day, 1 February, Newcastle finally agreed to terms and Geremi went to Turkey on a new 18-month deal.
Geremi's senior debut came not much later, appearing in a match against Gabon in October 1996. From there, the midfielder went on to feature in four of Cameroon's six qualifiers for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, though he was left out of the finals squad after the nation qualified.
Geremi won Gold medal with Cameroon in Sydney in 2000 when he captained his country. He has also won two Africa Cup of Nations titles in 2000 and 2002 as they demonstrated their superiority not only in Africa but at world level too.
Geremi was part of the Cameroon side that qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan he also played in all three of Cameroon's World Cup final games in 2002 and scored a free-kick in a 2–2 friendly draw with England shortly before the tournament.
The squad failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, finishing one point behind qualifiers Ivory Coast in their table. Geremi started nine of the squad's ten games at holding midfielder, however, and scored twice during the campaign.
The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations brought Cameroon's best finish since 2002, managing to reach the finals before losing 1–0 to Egypt. Geremi again played every one of Cameroon's games and was named to the Team of the Tournament for his performances.
Geremi earned his 100th cap for Cameroon on 11 February 2009, scoring a goal as part of a 3–1 friendly win against Guinea in Paris, a game in which he scored from a free-kick.
Geremi played in 11 2010 World Cup qualification matches Cameroon finished top of Group A in the third round of qualification, scoring one goal along the way.
In January 2010, Geremi and his teammates traveled to Angola for the 2010 Cup of Nations, falling to eventual champions Egypt in a 3–1 extra time loss.
Geremi was part of the Cameroon squad that took part in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He played in all three of Cameron's matches as they finished bottom of Group E.
Geremi's cousin, Pierre Webó, was also a professional footballer and played alongside Geremi for Cameroon at the 2010 World Cup.
Geremi speaks English, Spanish and Turkish.
In March 2024, Geremi filed for divorce after discovering his twin children were fathered by his wife's ex-partner.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | |||
| Racing Bafoussam | 1995 | Elite One | 0 |
| 1996 | 5 | ||
| Cerro Porteño | 1997 | Paraguayan Primera División | 0 |
| Gençlerbirliği | 1997–98 | Süper Lig | 5 |
| 1998–99 | 6 | ||
| Real Madrid | 1999–2000 | La Liga | 1 |
| 2000–01 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | 1 | ||
| Middlesbrough (loan) | 2002–03 | Premier League | 7 |
| Chelsea | 2003–04 | Premier League | 1 |
| 2004–05 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | 2 | ||
| 2006–07 | 1 | ||
| Newcastle United | 2007–08 | Premier League | 2 |
| 2008–09 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | EFL Championship | 1 | |
| Ankaragücü | 2009–10 | Süper Lig | 2 |
| AEL | 2010–11 | Super League Greece | 0 |
| + Appearances and goals by national team and year |
| + List of international goals scored by Geremi |
| International friendly |
| 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| Friendly match |
| 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2006 Africa Cup of Nations |
| 2008 Africa Nations Cup qualification |
| 2008 Africa Nations Cup qualification |
| 2008 Africa Cup of Nations |
| 2008 Africa Cup of Nations |
| Friendly |
| 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2010 Africa Cup of Nations |
Real Madrid
Chelsea
Newcastle United
Cameroon
Cameroon U-23
Individual
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