At 30, Alexandre Song has high hopes to give his football new impetus. The Cameroonian midfielder who has been practically invisible on football pitches for sometime, has inked a contract with Swiss club FC Sion. Nephew of retired emblematic Indomitable Lions captain Rigobert Song, A. Song, as he is fondly called by fans, joined the football academy of Bastia in France aged 14.

Two years later, he made his first team debut (2004- 2005) for the club playing 32 of the 38 Ligue 1 matches with other players like Michael Essien. After one season with the French club, the 1.85m player was loaned to London Club Arsenal (2005), a loan deal which became a permanent deal in 2006.

In Arsenal, after playing just nine matches in the first half of the season, he was loaned to Charlton Athletic for the rest of the season to gain in majority and get aquainted to the Premier League. From 2008 to 2012, Alexandre Song became the playmaker of Arsenal. Regurlaly selected with the Indomitable Lions at the junior levels from 2005, his hardwork paid off as he was selected to participate in 2008 AFCON, in Ghana.

He earned his first senior cap in the Lions first encounter against Egypt. After a fantastic tournament, the Lions were deprived of the trophy in the finals again by the Pharoahs of Egypt (1-0). Alexandre Song was named among the tourney’s best eleven. In 2010, the player was yet again named among the best eleven of the Angolan AFCON.

His brilliant perfomances in both club and National team yield fruits as he signed a five-year deal with Spanish giants FC Barcelona in August 12, 2012, for 19 Million Euros (roughly FCFA 12 billion). However, his spanish adventure was not succesful in spite of winning one La Liga title (2012- 2013), he was loaned for the two following seasons (2014-2016) to West Ham, before been transfered to Russian club Rubin Kazan (2016).

Controversies

Alexandre Song’s football career has been full with miffs. During the 2010 World Cup, which was the first of it’s kind to be played on the African continent in South Africa, Alexandre Song, it was reported, got into a brawl with then captain Samuel Eto’o. Rumours say, he was not happy the captain band was taken from his uncle Rigobert Song. In 2014, still in the World Cup, but this time in Brazil, A. Song was given a red card in a match against Croatia for voluntarily elbowing Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic.

Family man and Enterpreneur

Married to Olivia his childhood love, Alexandre is a father of two boys-Nolan and Kaylian Song. Equally an enterpreneur, with his wife they have a succesful fashion brand.

Bio  Express

Name:Alexandre Dimitri Song Bilong

NationalityCameroonian

Date of Birth: 9 September 1987 (30 years-old)

Place of Birth: Douala (Cameroon)

Height: 1.85m

Post: Midfielder Career

2004-2006: SC Bastia

2007: Charlton Athletic

2006-2012: Arsenal

2012-2016: FC Barcelona

2014-2016: West Ham

2016-2018: Rubin Kazan

2018- : FC Sion

National Team

Caps: 49

2008: Finalist AFCON