Armand Traoré

Arsenal

Born in Châtenay-Malabry, France, son of Isabelle and Abdoulaye Traoré, Armand Traoré started out his football youth career at Suresnes, at Racing Paris and Monaco. Traoré joined Arsenal on 1 August 2005. Although mainly a reserve team member, making six appearances in the FA Premier Reserve League in 2005–06, he played in Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial against Ajax in the first game at Emirates Stadium in July 2006. Traoré was an unused member of Arsenal's 18-man squad for their UEFA Champions League match against Dinamo Zagreb the following month. He went on to sign a professional contract with the club in August 2006 before making his first team debut in the League Cup in a third round match against West Bromwich Albion on 24 October, as a 24th minute substitute for Emmanuel Adebayor. Traoré went on to start in a League Cup match against Everton which was won by 1–0 margin at Goodison Park. He then played away to Liverpool in a 6–3 quarterfinal win. Traore was in the starting line-up for both semi-final legs against Tottenham Hotspur which was won 5–3 on aggregate. He then played in the final against Chelsea, which Arsenal lost 2–1. On 28 February 2007, Traoré started the FA Cup quarter-final replay against Blackburn Rovers in a 1–0 defeat at Ewood Park. At the end of the 2006–07 season, he made seven appearances in all competitions.

At the beginning of the 2007–08 campaign, Traoré said he wanted to prove his quality to manager Arsène Wenger. Traoré put…

Club

International

As of 5 September 2015

France

Traoré has represented France at under-17 and under-18 level. He played with the under-19s, helping them qualify for the elite round of the 2008 UEFA Under-19 Championship qualification. Traoré participated in all three qualifying matches and one of France's elite matches, before France were eliminated by Italy. He went on to make four appearances for the U19 side. Traoré received his first call-up to the under-21 team on 13 November 2008 for their friendly against Denmark, as the match resulted in a 1–0 victory for the U21 side, with Traoré playing 73 minutes before being substituted off. He went on to make four appearances for France U21.

Senegal

In June 2011, Traoré opted to represent his nation of origin, Senegal, after discussions with their coach Amara Traoré. His father also played internationally for Senegal. Traoré received his first Senegal call-up on 1 August ahead of a friendly match against Morocco. He made his debut for Senegal in a 2–0 defeat against Morocco on 10 August 2011, playing 70 minutes before being substituted off. Traoré was then called up as part of Senegal's squad for the 2012 African Cup of Nations. However, he made no appearances, as Senegal were eliminated in the Group Stage. In February 2013, Traoré was called up to Senegal for the first time in a year. He played his first match in almost two years, playing 45 minutes, in a 1–1 draw against Guinea on 5 February 2013. Traoré was called up to the Senegal national team…

Traoré grew up supporting Paris Saint-Germain and idolised Zinedine Zidane. In addition to speaking French, he speaks English since moving to England. Traoré revealed that his dad is friends with his former manager, Arsène Wenger. Traoré is married and has a son. Traoré is a practising Muslim, and has been seen praying before a football match for Arsenal. In 2010, Traoré claimed he would remove all his tattoos surgically, also claiming his religion was behind the move after embracing the Muslim faith. He said:

I'm planning to do this in the summer. They'll put me under anaesthetic and then do it all, and when I wake up everything will be gone. It needs a bit of recovery time though so I'm not going to do it during the football season. If I had been into my religion properly before I'd had the tattoos done, I think I would never have got them. I think it's one of the biggest mistakes I've made in my life but I will try and correct it. My religion has benefits both personally and in my career. I have always been a Muslim but I wasn't really practising it, I was just saying to people 'I am a Muslim'. It's a gradual development."